Midnight Rebels X &Friends Festival – Signal Breach Audio Visual Battle

Midnight Rebels, in partnership with &FRIENDS Festival, is proud to launch SIGNAL BREACH—an online audio-visual producer battle designed to push aspiring producers directly onto the festival lineup this June 19 & 20.

This competition is a dedicated initiative aimed at giving aspiring local producers across the Philippines a major platform to showcase both their music production and video editing skills. We are handing over the keys to the official festival archives. &FRIENDS has provided a library of high-intensity visual assets from their events. Your mission? Remix the night. Download the asset pack, and use total creative freedom to cut, arrange, and build an 18-to-30-second 9:16 Reel using these clips. Then, score your visual creation with an original, festival-ready track as the background tune.

If you’ve been waiting for your shot to move from the bedroom studio to the festival stage, this is it.

Official Timeline

Mark your calendars. Late submissions or engagement metrics after these deadlines will not be counted.

• May 24 – June 1: Submission Window Open (Emails must be received by midnight on June 1).
• June 2 – June 6: Judging & Public Engagement Phase.
• June 8: Official Winner Announcement.

The Prize Pool

We aren’t just giving away exposure. We are putting cash in your pocket, getting you and your crew into the festival, and putting you behind the decks.

Place	Cash Prize	Festival Passes	The Ultimate Payoff
1st Place	PHP 5,000	2 VIP Passes (Winner + Companion)	Perform a Live DJ Set on a Designated Stage at &FRIENDS!
2nd Place	PHP 3,000	1 GA Pass (Winner)
3rd Place	PHP 2,000	1 GA Pass (Winner)

⚠️ Important Notice for the Grand Prize Winner: The 1st place champion will perform a live set on a designated stage at &FRIENDS on June 19 & 20. Winners based outside of Manila are responsible for their own airfare and accommodations. In the event that the winner is unable to perform, the slot will be filled by either an internal house DJ or the runner-up.

Official Contest Mechanics

To ensure a fair battle, submissions will be scored out of a maximum of 100 points based on three distinct categories:

1. Music Production Value (50 Points)

Our panel will grade your background tune based on technical execution and creativity:

• 41–50 (Elite): Clean mix, mainstage-ready, punchy low-end, highly original sound design.
• 26–40 (Solid): Good arrangement, decent mix, but maybe uses generic/overused EDM samples.
• 1–25 (Needs Work): Muddy mix, clipping audio, or lacks a cohesive structure/drop.

2. Audience Engagement (40 Points)

How well does your community rally behind you? Approved entries will be posted to our YouTube Shorts. Points are awarded based on hitting these benchmarks by June 6:

• 40 Points: 1,000+ views AND 100+ likes
• 30 Points: 500–999 views AND 50–99 likes
• 20 Points: 200–499 views AND 20–49 likes
• 10 Points: Under 200 views OR under 20 likes

Entries suspected of using bots, paid engagement farms, fake accounts, or artificial engagement manipulation may be disqualified at the organizers’ discretion.

3. Visual Creativity (10 Points)

How did you edit the footage? Does the rhythm of your visual cuts sync perfectly to the transients and drop of your music?

How to Enter in 3 Steps:

Step 1: Download the &FRIENDS Vault Pack
Click the link below to download the official repository of festival video clips (lasers, crowd shots, stage drops) provided by &FRIENDS.

👉 [CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE ASSETS]

Step 2: Build Your Video Reel
It is completely up to you how you choose to edit, arrange, loop, or combine the provided footages. Build an 18-to-30-second video reel (rendered as an MP4) and layer your own original electronic track underneath as the driving background tune.

Step 3: Submit via Email
Between May 24 and June 1, send your finished MP4 file to [email protected] with the subject line “SIGNAL BREACH Entry – [Your Artist Name]”. Be sure to include your social media handles in the email body.

How the Battle Works (The Engagement Phase)

Once our team reviews and approves your submission, we will upload your video directly to the official Midnight Rebels YouTube channel as a YouTube Short. As soon as your video goes live, we will email you your unique link.

During the judging period from June 3 to June 7, it is your job to share that link, embed it, and get your fans to view, like, comment, and share directly on our YouTube Short. Your final engagement score (out of 40 points) will lock dynamically as we tally the leaderboard ahead of the June 8 announcement.

Crucial Disclaimers & Rules

• No Generative AI: All music production and video editing must be your own original work. The use of generative AI tools to completely create the background tune or heavily generate the video assets is strictly prohibited and will result in instant disqualification.
• Strict Deadlines: The email submission window closes strictly on June 1. Late submissions will not be opened, uploaded, or scored under any circumstances. Submit early to avoid technical delays.
• Content Rights: Midnight Rebels reserves the right to reject any submissions featuring explicit/offensive content, poor rendering quality, or unauthorized third-party copyright samples outside of the provided asset pack.
• Who is it for: Tailored for the modern, multi-disciplinary artist who knows how to produce, edit, and hustle for views.

Download the assets, lock yourself in the studio, and claim your spot on the lineup.