1) Promoting your stuff on the Hideout: The GaragePunk Hideout is a great site for promoting your band, 'zine, radio show, podcast, festival, new record, free download, show/gig/tour or other project. We just ask that you please don't do this in the main network Forum. For self-promotion, please use the other areas of the site, such as your Hideout blog, an actual blog that's built right into your Hideout member page. It's your blog, so use it however you want (within reason, of course). All the latest blog posts appear on the main page of the site, so people will see them. In addition to that, we also have the Trading Post group for unclassified ads, which is a great place to post stuff you're selling (or buying!). If you want to make your music available to our GaragePunk Pirate Radio show hosts, you can do that in the GPPR Fans group. The Forum is for discussion topics, not promotional posts (see guideline #4 below for more details on that).

2) Banner ads: If you hadn't noticed, we sell banner ads that appear in the "Hideout Ads" section of the sidebar on the right. If you really want your record, label, store, festival, business, etc. to get some attention, have a better chance at selling some stuff, and help support the site at the same time, you should consider buying one. They're really cheap (seriously!), and your money goes to helping pay our hosting bills. Click here for details.

3) Regional Groups: If you're looking for tips & recommendations in a certain city or country, or you'd like to promote a live show/concert, festival, or tour that is happening in a specific city (or, in the case of a tour, across many different cities), then it's best to use the appropriate regional group(s) (such as Northeastern U.S., The Great Midwest, Canada, Europe, Latin America, etc.) and also the Events section (see below for more info on that). For example, bands or labels advertising a new record release should post about it on their blog and the Trading Post. Posting about an upcoming gig or tour? Use the Events section and/or your regional group forum. Want people to check out your music on Bandcamp, Soundcloud or your Hideout page? Please just use your blog for that. Have videos or pics you want to share? Post them in the videos or photos sections. If you want everyone to know about your radio show or podcast, then there are groups for those as well.

4) Forum & Group Posts: We'd like to keep the main network General Discussion Forum for general discussions about music, obviously. So please keep that in mind and think before you post something there. Your topic may actually be a better fit in one of our many group forums. Our groups serve as additional forums for more specific discussion topics. Please investigate those FIRST before posting to the main network Forum. For example, a post about a specific band or record from the '60s would be better suited in the Psychotic Reactions group forum. Topics about music gear or recording techniques/questions should go in the Bands & Musicians group. Starting a political discussion would be best served in the Politics and Current Events group, and so on. And posts that are targeted at one specific city or area (and not for everyone on the network) should go in the appropriate regional group forum as mentioned in #3 above. Also, please don't post thread games in the Forum. These are topics that aren't intended to inspire actual discussion, but are just done so that someone else posts an immediate, mindless, one-line response or YouTube video, so instead of having an actual discussion thread going, what happens is you get an endless series of video embeds. Topics like this that have been deleted in the past include "What's Spinning Right Now," "Chain Reaction," and "Guess the LP Cover" (among others). These types of topics will get deleted as soon as we see them pop up.

5) Posting Events: Make sure to include a description of the event with as many details as possible! Include links to band sites, add graphics (a flyer or photo), etc. The more information you provide in your event posting, the more appealing it will be to people, and hence, the better your turnout will be. Make sense? By the way, as mentioned above, a record release is NOT an event. A record release party or show is. There is a difference! An online record sale for your label or distro is also NOT an event. If you create an event about a record release, sale, or something else that isn't actually an event, it will be deleted, and we may even consider it spam and send you a warning which could lead to suspending your membership (see #1 above).

6) Posting Videos: Try to keep them relevant to the site. While you might be an aspiring filmmaker and want to show off something you made recently, please try to determine first if the subject matter fits in with the subject matter of the Hideout. Posting it on a more general video-sharing site like YouTube, Vimeo or Blip.tv might be more appropriate. Also, videos which are nothing more than a song put to a static, unchanging image should NOT be posted in the Video section. You can upload MP3s of your favorite songs and add them to your music player on your Hideout page. Use that if you just want to upload songs, but please don't post static image videos in our Videos section. It's a waste of bandwidth.

7) Policy on pornography, adult content, or nudity We think it's important that we repost Ning's policy on this subject here, just in case you haven't read it:

We believe in freedom of expression and Ning, as a broad-based service, is designed to respect many different perspectives and enable them to co-exist seamlessly and effortlessly. With that said, we do not permit pornography, adult content or nudity. To clarify what we define as adult content, nudity or pornography, networks that contain the following would clearly NOT be allowed:

• Depictions or images of sexual acts or implied sexual activity
• Nudity (exposed or see-though coverage of areas typically covered by a bathing suit or underwear)
• Graphic photos or videos
• Fetishes

Members found violating Ning's policy on adult content will have their content removed and will receive a note explaining why it was removed (consider this a warning). Repeated violations will result in suspension or deletion of your account. We're not being prudish in doing this; we're simply abiding by Ning's guidelines. This is pretty much the case ANYWHERE on the Internet, especially large forums and social-networking sites. You may think it's unfair, but hey, that's life. If you really want to post adult-oriented "NSFW" stuff, please do it on your own website, not ours.

8) Network Moderation We pretty much treat problems or issues on a case-by-case basis. With a few rare exceptions, everyone here gets along really well and very seldom are there any bad arguments, name-calling or flame wars. And we'd like to keep it that way. So please, don't be an asshole. While we're not very religious around here, we do recommend following The Golden Rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated. (And, conversely, Do not treat others in ways you would not like to be treated.) If you don't like jerks, spammers and trolls, then don't be one yourself. If someone posted something that got under your skin, do whatever you need to do to cool off before you fire off that scathing rebuttal. Walk away from the computer for a few minutes, get a drink, count to ten, go run around the block, whatever. We encourage healthy, lively debate and passionate discussion, and it takes many different types of people with varying opinions/viewpoints for this to happen. Just remember to have respect and tolerance for each other. Your membership here and use of this website is a privilege, not a right, and the admins here reserve the right to revoke or suspend your membership for any reason. Also, Ning (the parent site for this network) also has a list of detailed Terms of Service which you agree to when you sign up. They're pretty typical of any online social network, but are obviously necessary to have linked here. If you did not read them when you joined (c'mon, be honest), be sure to read over them now. Thanks!

9) New here? Please read this introductory page next for some tips on getting started. I know, I know... pain in the ass, right? Get over it. At least we don't charge you to become a member... yet. ;) Thanks.

10) GaragePunk Hideout Comp Series This series of digital compilation albums is NOT free for everyone. Only active Hideout members* (see below) can download the comps for free in our exclusive GRGPNK Records Group. You'll need to submit a request to access the group (unless you have already been invited), but all active*, regularly participating Hideout members will be granted access. Just give me a little time to respond to the request.

*An active member is someone who has not only joined the site, but has made an obvious attempt to be a regular, active participant (and continues to do so). This means you've personalized your profile page a bit and shown some involvement by, for example, adding/inviting friends, joining some of our groups, participated in some of our many groups and forum discussions, uploaded music, posted videos, blogged, added events, etc. When you request to join the GRGPNK Records group, we will check your Activity Feed to see how often you sign in and share content here. We believe that visiting the site a minimum of a few times per month is not too much to ask to be an active part of our online community. If you only visit the site once in a blue moon, then it's likely that your request will be denied, or you will be removed from the group until you once again become more involved. The purpose of that group is to offer free downloads of the comps to those members as a reward for their active and continued participation, not to just make them available to just anyone. We'd also like for you to be a Hideout member for a minimum of three months. Sorry for the inconvenience, but this is to try and prevent people from joining the site solely for the purpose of getting the free comps and then splitting, never to be seen nor heard from again.

If you are not an active member, each volume will be available to the general public for purchase from iTunes, Amazon.com, eMusic, Bandcamp and elsewhere. Just visit those sites and search for the title or use the icon links beneath each volume shown above. They're cheap! The most you will pay for one is $9.99 (not bad for 22 songs) and the cheapest (eMusic) has them for just $5.99 each. All proceeds from sales will be going to pay for digital distribution of future comps as well as to support the GaragePunk Hideout. Thanks!

ENJOY THE SITE!

This network was created for people to communicate and interact with others around the world with similar musical/cultural interests. Please have FUN with it. If it gets to the point where it's taking up too much of your time, causing you personal stress, anxiety, or otherwise making your life a living hell, please, take a break (and see a shrink)!

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Last Updated: December 21, 2012