Beat Battles

How it works

1. A sample drops. Every challenge has one short sample (and often a video). Every producer gets the exact same audio.
2. Flip it. Download the WAV, make a beat in whatever you use - FL Studio, Ableton, Logic, anything. Any genre.
3. Submit before the deadline. One entry each. Replace it as often as you like until entries close; after that it's locked and late entries can't get in.
4. The community judges. When entries close, everyone listens two flips at a time and picks the better one.
5. Results. When voting ends, SoundLens counts every head-to-head vote, names the winner and hands out points.

How the winner is decided

Each vote is one head-to-head result: this flip beat that one. When voting ends, every entry gets a strength score from all of those results (the Bradley–Terry model) - beating a strong entry counts for more than beating a weak one, so it's not just a raw win count. If two entries end exactly level, their own head-to-head decides, then total wins, then whoever entered first.

When there aren't many votes, the results page says so instead of pretending the order is certain.

Keeping it fair

• Everyone starts at zero. Followers, fame and payments never add a single point or vote.
• You never get your own entry to vote on, and you can't vote on the same pair twice.
• Pairs are chosen so every entry gets heard about equally - the least-heard entries come up first.
• Entries are anonymous until the results: no names, no follower counts, no play counts or running scores. Left and right are random.
• You can vote once your account is 3 days old and you've had a beat in a battle (from when its entries close) - or straight away if you've signed in once in the SoundLens desktop app. Votes from the producer's own computer, from accounts under 3 days old, or between party friends in a match don't count, and moderators review unusual patterns. Custom matches and duels don't add leaderboard points.
• A vote only counts after you've had time to listen (20 seconds), and very fast voting gets paused.

Ways to play

• Events: the big battles. One sample, days to make your beat, everyone votes.
• Sprint: one sample, 20 minutes to make it, 10 to vote. Two producers are enough.
• Quick and Ranked: four rounds, 30 minutes a beat. Ranked moves your competitive rank and needs Share DAW (a replay of you making it).
• Solo: flip a sample any time, on your own. Today's flip is a new sample every day; flip it on days in a row for a streak.
• Ghost runs: play a finished battle against the beats that were in it. Duels: challenge one producer from their profile.

After you vote you can shout out what stood out in your pick - drums, melody, mix or the flip. Producers see what listeners said about their beat with their results. It's feedback, never part of the score.

Your three numbers

• Points - for taking part and placing in events. They only go up, and they set your badge (Rookie up to Legend). Everyone climbs by showing up.
• Skill rating - starts at 1000 and moves with where you place against who you were up against. Beating strong producers counts most.
• Rank (RR) - only in Ranked matches: Demo, Mixtape, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, then Hall of Fame. Win and you go up; finish low and you drop. Each season ends with everyone one tier lower, to climb again.

Points

You get your entry points plus your single best placement award (a winner gets 10 + 150, not every tier added up). Placement awards need at least 3 entries.

Ranks

Rookie 0+ Rising 60+ Skilled 250+ Elite 600+ Master 1200+ Legend 2500+

Skill rating

Separate from points: it starts at 1000 and moves with where you place against who you were up against. Showing up earns points; placing well against strong producers earns rating.