Overview
Solo-Ensemble.com is a web-based service that schools or other organizations use to manage a local Solo and Ensemble music contest (and soon other types of contests). It is not an installed software program; all of its functionality comes from internet web browser programs such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, or Google Chrome. The simple and competitive subscription pricing model is based upon the largest anticipated number of participating schools in a contest. Larger subscriptions can operate multiple simultaneous contests.
What We Provide
For every new Solo and Ensemble customer, we use an established process to create the personalized and login-secured website. This setup process involves obtaining the images and color schemes related to the host organization (these can be changed later), and obtaining data from the Contest Director (contact information, initial dates for a contest, and any cut-off dates for applying or submitting school information). As each participating school is added to the contest, they are given their own secured portion of the website where the student performance data may be updated, files and messages from the contest director are shared, and after the contest begins, where school-specific results are provided. Every performance judge also has their own customized login to the contest site where they enter their comments and scores and review earlier scores.
Subscription-Based Pricing
We try to make managing contests with Solo-Ensemble.com very affordable. Each license to use Solo-Ensemble.com is purchased as an annual subscription, priced according to the greatest anticipated number of schools to be hosted at any single contest event throughout the subscription year. Individual schools can purchase an annual Single school subscription for $99 USD. They can hold contests with their own students as often as they wish and can practice using the software to prepare for larger contests.
Subscriptions for schools, school districts, or other organizations that plan to host multi-school contests are priced based upon the expected number of participating schools for any contests during the subscription period and the number of concurrent websites you need. Should you want to upgrade to a larger capacity subscription, you only pay the cost difference to the next level, and your subscription automatically renews to remain valid 1 year from the date of the upgrade. If you do not know how many schools to expect for a contest, start with a low level (even the Single school subscription of $99 USD) to learn the software, then upgrade when your contest date draws near and you know how many schools to expect. These pricing tiers are more fully explained on our Pricing Page, but are listed here for reference:
- Single ($99 USD), 1 School, 1 Website
- Small ($299 USD), 5 Schools, 2 Websites
- Medium ($399 USD), 10 Schools, 3 Websites
- Large ($499 USD), 20 Schools, 4 Websites
- XLarge ($599 USD), 20+ Schools, 5 Websites
- District ($999 USD), 20+ Schools, Unlimited Websites
The new District subscription is intended for school districts who want their member schools to have individual websites. For a $999 USD annual subscription, the school District and its member schools can have an unlimited number of websites each of which is capable of hosting any contest size (number of schools).
Group Discounts
If a school district or similar organization purchases a multiple-contest subscription for itself at full price, then any individual school within the group may purchase a separate license at a reduced price (see the table column labeled Group Discount on the Pricing page). The discount improves as the subscription contest size increases; for example the XLarge subscription provides any other group license purchases at 50% off the base price. These school discounts would remain in effect for renewals so long as the parent group keeps its subscription current, and also applies to school upgrades to any higher level subscription (but not to the parent group’s original subscription). A group could be a private organization (e.g., a civic club or private school association), or could even consist of several smaller school districts who wish to collaborate and compete together. Schools that are familiar with Solo-Ensemble.com become more willing to host their own events, so we encourage copies for each school when practical, and our group discount policy helps make it more affordable. However note that when the cost of additional subscriptions approaches the price of the District subscription ($999) it may be worth considering that level with unlimited websites, contests, and no size limits for the duration of the subscription period.
Concurrent Contests
Each Solo-Ensemble.com subscription account is permitted one or more contest websites, which may be re-configured as often as necessary to support multiple contest events throughout the year. Sometimes it will be necessary to operate more than one contest site when multiple events will be occurring, for example a band contest and a choral contest that may only be 1 week apart. Since each contest site is normally used for several weeks before the event, it would be impractical to use the same website for both events. For this reason the larger subscription plans allow you to create and operate multiple contest websites at the same time, and each one may have a completely independent set of people (contest staff, judges, accompanists) and participating schools. See the Pricing page for the number of contests at each subscription level.
Examples
Example 1: Wilsonville Middle School wants to host a contest and invite 8 other schools to participate. Since the total number of schools is 1 + 8 = 9, the annual subscription fee is $399 USD (Medium). Wilsonville retains this active subscription for a year, and can use the software as often as they wish for contest events up to 10 schools. A Medium subscription also permits them to host 3 contest websites at the same time throughout the subscription period.
Example 2: Turkeytown Junior High School currently has a Single subscription ($99 USD) and decides to host a contest with 4 additional schools (plus their own students). The increased cost for the upgrade to Small would be $200 since the contest contains 5 total schools (including the host school). Turkeytown would then have a Small subscription (up to 5 school) subscription good for 1 year from the date they upgraded.
Example 3: Largeville Independent School District (ISD) hosts two annual Solo and Ensemble contests for their 18 Middle Schools and 7 High Schools (25 schools total) each Fall and Spring. The 7 High Schools host Band Placement Auditions in May, with each High School hosting 8th grade band students from 2 or 3 Middle Schools. Largeville ISD could purchase a single XLarge subscription for $599 USD to accommodate the 25-school contests. That qualifies any schools within the district to a 50% discount for purchasing any additional Solo-Ensemble.com licenses. Largeville can use this subscription to conduct up to 5 simultaneous contest websites, if needed.
Regarding the Largeville ISD High School Placement Auditions in the spring, there are several options:
- The 7 Largeville High Schools could coordinate with the ISD and use its subscription to create a single Contest for holding the Placement Auditions together as one event, at one or multiple locations, over several days if necessary.
- The existing ISD subscription could create up to 5 contest websites, applied to several individual events.
- Any Largeville ISD High School that wants to run their own contest (e.g., customized to their school colors and including only the Middle Schools with which they are associated) could purchase a Small (up to 5-school) subscription at a 50% discount ($149). That would allow them to host their Placement Auditions and/or other contest events as well throughout the subscription period.
- Largeville ISD could purchase the District subscription for $999 USD and each High School could operate its own Placement Audition event using their own website.