If you know the name of a listener you want to find, check out the find listener section. Click on Find at the left side of the top menu bar then click Find Listeners at the top of the page. There you'll see where you can enter the listeners name in the search box or browse listeners alphabetically. The text search is a simple string comparison of the text you enter versus the listener's user name as they entered it. Listener's user names may be the user's real name or a nickname. We plan on updating this section soon to be similar to the "Find Artist" section in order to make it easier to find people you know.

When you're ready to listen, click Radio on the top menu bar to bring up the radio. You can start also the Artist Radio for a particular artist by going to an artists profile and clicking "Artist Radio". There are several ways for you to listen to songs in the radio:

• Play All Songs - When the radio first launches you'll see a Play All option below the Genres heading. Click that if you want to hear songs from any artist on the site, regardless of genre.
• Play All in a Main Genre - After you click on a main genre (Acoustic, Alternative, Metal, or Rock) you will see another Play All link under the genre name heading. Click that if you want to hear all the artists within the main genre you clicked.
• SubGenre - After selecting a main genre you can select a subgenre which will play songs from any artist who has selected that subgenre for their band.
• Tag Radio - The Tag Radio is a feature that allows songs to be tagged with any word or phrase the listener chooses. This builds a Tag Radio containing all the songs with that tag. Tags would usually be descriptive terms (ie. chill, hardcore, etc). You can listen to Tag Radio by entering words in the text box oin the main radio page.
• Artist Radio - The Artist Radio will play only songs by the artist that you selected. The Artist Radio is started by navigating to the arists profile and clicking Artist Radio.

Every song uploaded by a band is given a score that is calculated based on a complicated algorithm involving several different factors, with one of the main factor being the number of likes versus dislikes the song has gotten over a period of time. Other factors are considered as well so that even songs that score low will have a chance to be heard in the radio to a certain extent. The best way to get your music heard is to have your fans come and rate your songs.

If you have a listener account, songs that you dislike with a click on the thumbs down icon in the radio will not be played to you any more and that will count against the score of the song. Don't be shy to click the dislike button. It's important for unsigned bands to get feedback on their songs from listeners. Songs added to the Do Not Play List option under the "more" button in the radio will also not be played to you any more but will not reflect negatively on the song's score.

If you are logged in to your listener account the radio will keep up with your recent songs and not play the same song twice within a certain number of plays. More recent songs are kept up with for this purpose than are actually shown to you in the Recent Songs section of your account. If you aren't signed in then no recent songs will be saved so there is a small chance that you will hear the same song close together.

There are a couple of options in the radio when songs are playing. Some of these require you to be signed in.

• Like/Dislike Buttons - These are the thumbs up and thumbs down icons on the right side of the player. When a song is playing, use these to "like" or "dislike" the song. If you have already liked or disliked the song that is playing it will be highlighted. You can change your rating while the song is playing but after the song changes you won'y be able to change your vote. You can't manage your likes and dislikes the way you can with your favorites. The more likes a song gets compared to its dislikes, the more likely the song is to play in the radio (to anybody, not just you). Artists can view the count of likes and dislikes for each song but can't see the user that rated it. If you dislike a song it also will not play to you any more (except in the Artist Radio). Don't be shy about disliking a band, it's important for unsigned bands to get feedback on their song from listeners.
• Add to Favorites Button - This is the button on the right that looks like a heart with +fav. Clicking this will add a song to your favorites list so that you can listen to it later in your account. It will also be visible in your profile if you have the visible favorites setting turned on. This will also be highlighted when a song plays if it's already in your favorites. Click it again and it will remove it from your favorites. You can manage your favorites by signing into your account and clicking favorites at the top menu. Artists can see how many times their songs have been favorited but not which listeners actually favorited their songs.
• Add Artist To Favorites - You can see this option by clicking the "more" button on the bottom right of the player. This will add the artist to your favorite artist list. This list is used so you can go back and find artists that you liked. A link to your favorite artists will be on your profile if you have the visible favorites setting turned on. You can sign into your account in order to manage your favorite artists.
• Don't Play This Song Any More - This option is also found by clicking the more button. This adds the current song to your Do Not Play List. You would use this option for songs that you like but are just tired of hearing. This is different from disliking a song (clicking the thumbs down button) because it does not reflect negatively on the song's score. The artists can't see the number of times each of their songs has been added to the listeners Do Not Play lists.
• Buy - This button will show a list of links to places where you can purchase the current song. The current stores we allow links to are iTunes, Amazon.com, and CD Baby. Artists may have their songs available elsewhere also, so check their profile and go to their website to see if other purchase options exist.
• Tag - Clicking the tag button will show a window where you can tag songs. Songs can be tagged by listeners with descriptive terms, which creates a Tag Radio that can be listened to by searching for tags in the radio.
• View Artists Profile - When a song is playing, the artist name and profile picture becomes a link that will take you to the artist's profile where you can see more info on the band and hear more songs from the band.
• Change Station - The change station link is at the top right of the player. Clicking this link will take you back to the genres list on the radio. The current station will continue to play until you select another station.

When you are signed in to your artist or listener account you can post comments to other artist or listener profiles as well as to blog posts. At the bottom of a user profile or blog post you will see the Post Comment link. Posted comments will appear at the bottom of the page with the newest first.

If you want to delete a comment you posted, click on the delete comment link which appears under the comment on the right side. This link also appears under all of the comments on your own profile so you can delete any comment posted to your profile.

MuchNoise also has an indie music blog. Click on Blog at the left side of the main menu bar to check out our blog. At the top of the blog you will see a RSS Icon which leads to the RSS feed if you want to subscribe. The main purpose of the blog is for Josh to post the MuchNoise Acoustic Session videos that he makes for bands in the hopefully soon-to-be world famous Brickroom in Prattville, AL.

If you need to contact us click on the Contact link at the very bottom of any page on the site. There are two options that will direct your email to the appropriate person. Please contact us if you think that an artist has uploaded music which they do not own the copyright.

When you signup as a listener you will have a public profile that displays various information. Your username, hometown, song plays, profile views, and signup date will show automatically. You may also choose to add a profile picture, a bio with info about yourself, a link to your website (or Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, etc). Your favorite artists and songs will also show in your profile unless you disable public favorites in your account settings. At the bottom of your profile is a comments section where listeners or artists can post comments to you.

If you click on Edit Profile on the top menu bar when you are signed into your listener account, you can edit your profile picture and your bio. Your picture must be in jpeg format and at least a resolution of 200x100. The picture will be resized automatically by the site. Square thumbnails will also be made that will be displayed next to any comments you post.

In the Edit Profile section you can also edit your bio. Be sure not to go over the specified length. You can check how many characters you have used by saving it and looking for a message that shows your character count.

If you click on Settings on the top menu bar when you are signed into your listener account, you can edit your account settings including your user name, password, hometown, website url, and email preferences.

Under your email address at the top you will see a checkbox for Keep Me Logged In. If this is checked, once you login again a cookie will be set on your browser and the website will automatically log you in next time you come to the site.

To see and manage your favorite artists and songs click on Favorites in the top menu bar when you are signed in to your listener account. First you'll see a list of your favorite songs which you can listen to, remove, or purchase via the buy links next to the song. Clicking the red X next to the song will remove the song from your favorites. To remove all your favorite songs click on the Clear Songs link at the bottom right.

Click on Favorite Artists at the top of the favorites section to show the artists that you have favorited. If you want to remove a band, click the red X on the right ride of each band. To remove all your favorite artists click on the Clear Artists link at the bottom right.

If you want to go back and find a recent song you listened to in the radio, click Recent Songs in the top menu bar when you are signed in to your listener account. You'll see a list of the last 15 recently played songs which you can listen to, add to your favorites, or purchase via the buy links next to the song. To clear all your favorite songs click on the Clear Songs link at the bottom right.

When you signup as a artist you will have a public profile that shows your band name, hometown, song plays, profile views, signup date, and the genres you selected for your band will show automatically. You may also choose to add a profile picture, a bio with info about the band, a link to your website (or Facebook, Bandcamp, etc). A link to your artist radio will also be shown as well as a link for listeners to add your band to their favorites. Any music you upload will show, organized by album with the album pic and radio controls. Each album will also have a buy link next to it if you selected a store when you created the album. At the bottom of your profile is a comments section where listeners or other artists can post comments to you.

If you click on Edit Profile on the top menu bar when you are signed in to your artist account, you can edit your profile picture and your bio. Your picture must be in jpeg format and at least a resolution of 200x175. The picture will be resized automatically by the site so it looks uniform. Square thumbnails will also made that will display in the radio, next to your comments, and other places around the site.

Here you can also edit your bio. Be sure not to go over the specified length. You can check it by saving it and looking for a message that shows how many characters you have used.

If you click on Settings on the top menu bar when you are signed in to your artist account, you can edit your account settings including your a password, hometown, website, and email preferences. You can also change the genres which your band will play in. Under your email address at the top you will see a checkbox for "Keep Me Logged In." If this is checked, once you login again a cookie will be set on your browser and the website will automatically log you in next time you come to the site.

When you are ready to upload music, sign in to your artist account and click Music in the top menu bar. You must first add an album before you can upload songs. Click Add an Album and enter your album title and select your album cover picture to upload (250x250 minimum resolution jpeg). To the right of your album cover picture you will see several check boxes which you can use to indicate that this album is available for purchase at iTunes, Amazon, or CD Baby. For CD Baby, you must go to the cdbaby.com and copy the URL to your album and paste it in the box. When you are done click Save Album at the bottom right.

Once the album is created you will see it on the main Upload Music page with 3 links beside it. There is an Edit Album link that allows you to change the album name, album picture, and purchase availability. There is a Delete Album link that will delete the entire album including all of the songs you uploaded to the album. The third link, Upload/Edit Songs is where you go to add songs to the album.

Click the Upload/Edit Songs link in order to upload songs or remove existing songs. On the upload page, you will see boxes to enter the song name and to select the file to upload. Songs must be in Mp3 format, longer than 1 minute, and shorter than 7 minutes. It may take a few minutes to upload the song, so be patient. Once a song is uploaded you will see it on the page and you can play the song, test your buy links, or delete the song (with the red X). As soon as you upload the song it will be available for play in the radio and on your profile.

To view your song stats click on Stats on the top meu bar of your artist account. First you will see your play counts for each song you have uploaded. This is the totals of all plays on the site from your radio, your profile, or any other applications that MuchNoise plays your music on. At the top of the stats page there is a link to Favorites which will show you how often each of your songs have been added to listeners favorites. There is also a link to Likes/Dislikes which will show you how many times listeners have liked or disliked your songs and the percentage that liked each song.

After at least a month of data is collected, you will see a graph of your stats on the Plays and Favorited page that shows how many Plays or Favorites you have gotten total for each month. There will also be a drop down box that allows you to see a graph of Plays or Favorites for each individual song.