2025 Christmas Music Event!

On 12/6/2025 at 1:50 PM, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

Because of controversy surrounding the following piece being generated with the help of artificial intelligence it was at first disqualified from the event.  But the staff have since changed their mind and will allow @Vonias to participate:

On 12/6/2025 at 3:20 PM, AngelCityOutlaw said:

On 12/6/2025 at 1:50 PM, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

Because of controversy surrounding the following piece being generated with the help of artificial intelligence it was at first disqualified from the event.  But the staff have since changed their mind and will allow @Vonias to participate:

 

 

Expand  

I'm withdrawing my participation.

Competition or not, if you're putting on essentially a display of music created by members and also giving out site badges for them, then I feel that music should actually be created and produced by the members of the forum. I want my music alongside other human-created works.

On 12/7/2025 at 10:38 AM, AngelCityOutlaw said:

On 12/7/2025 at 10:26 AM, chopin said:

@AngelCityOutlaw, this is a just for fun event which is why we are ok with the submission. Also, Vonias is being very clear about his submission being AI generated or assisted. We'd love for you to be a part of this event, but of course its up to you. You can change your mind any time, we just want to keep things festive and fun on YC!

I'm sorry Mike, but you guys folded like a cheap suit in a matter of minutes. You give these AI bros an inch and they'll take 3 miles. What is to say you won't fold the same when it's not "just for fun?" Aren't all of these "just for fun" in some way? And people will bring up that "Well you accepted AI that time!" 

Is this a place for composers, or a place for grifters passing off AI music?

On 12/7/2025 at 10:38 AM, AngelCityOutlaw said:

On 12/7/2025 at 10:26 AM, chopin said:

@AngelCityOutlaw, this is a just for fun event which is why we are ok with the submission. Also, Vonias is being very clear about his submission being AI generated or assisted. We'd love for you to be a part of this event, but of course its up to you. You can change your mind any time, we just want to keep things festive and fun on YC!

I'm sorry Mike, but you guys folded like a cheap suit in a matter of minutes. You give these AI bros an inch and they'll take 3 miles. What is to say you won't fold the same when it's not "just for fun?" Aren't all of these "just for fun" in some way? And people will bring up that "Well you accepted AI that time!" 

Is this a place for composers, or a place for grifters passing off AI music?

On 12/7/2025 at 3:35 PM, AngelCityOutlaw said:

On 12/7/2025 at 10:38 AM, AngelCityOutlaw said:

I'm sorry Mike, but you guys folded like a cheap suit in a matter of minutes. You give these AI bros an inch and they'll take 3 miles. What is to say you won't fold the same when it's not "just for fun?" Aren't all of these "just for fun" in some way? And people will bring up that "Well you accepted AI that time!" 

Is this a place for composers, or a place for grifters passing off AI music?

 

Also something else I need to say about this:

So I, and others, can put in hours of work writing the music, orchestration, making detailed mockups, etc. but a guy who writes a Suno prompt and has a "piece" in 5 minutes is treated as equally-valid in this event? It isn't actually even his music. Where is the "fun" in that, exactly? Why even bother?

You guys say you want more people to do reviews. What your reviews are going to become if this kind of thing is permitted is a bunch of people being like "Nice prompt bro, but I would've said 'romantic soaring strings' instead of 'cinematic'". 

On 12/7/2025 at 3:35 PM, AngelCityOutlaw said:

On 12/7/2025 at 10:38 AM, AngelCityOutlaw said:

I'm sorry Mike, but you guys folded like a cheap suit in a matter of minutes. You give these AI bros an inch and they'll take 3 miles. What is to say you won't fold the same when it's not "just for fun?" Aren't all of these "just for fun" in some way? And people will bring up that "Well you accepted AI that time!" 

Is this a place for composers, or a place for grifters passing off AI music?

 

Also something else I need to say about this:

So I, and others, can put in hours of work writing the music, orchestration, making detailed mockups, etc. but a guy who writes a Suno prompt and has a "piece" in 5 minutes is treated as equally-valid in this event? It isn't actually even his music. Where is the "fun" in that, exactly? Why even bother?

You guys say you want more people to do reviews. What your reviews are going to become if this kind of thing is permitted is a bunch of people being like "Nice prompt bro, but I would've said 'romantic soaring strings' instead of 'cinematic'". 

Yeah no;  sorry if I'm a bit late, but if someone makes their song out of AI I agree that they should be disqualified, but I feel like withdrawing your participation is a bit too far. for me one of my my favorite parts about writing a piece is that you get to pick out the order that the notes go and to choose what notes go where. I feel like if you give an AI the key, mood, and length of the song but you don't make it your self, there's just not enough creativity. I too, have made an AI song and posted it on here, but that was just for fun,  and it certainly wasn't for a competition. I also told the AI to give me the notes and I put them myself and that was just to see if AI could really make a song. I think it's fine, just this once but I do not think AI-made/assisted pieces should be allowed in competitions anymore.

Edited December 15, 2025Dec 15 by therealAJGS
typo

4 hours ago, therealAJGS said:

but I feel like withdrawing your participation is a bit too far

How is that possibly going too far? 

34 minutes ago, AngelCityOutlaw said:

How is that possibly going too far? 

 

Because you didn't cheat and no one else is. Just report them and still enter the event, although I do understand why you would withdraw too.

1 hour ago, TristanTheTristan said:

Because you didn't cheat and no one else is. Just report them and still enter the event, although I do understand why you would withdraw too.

Reporting them meant nothing. Their Suno prompt is still in the event and the staff didn't even really offer an explanation for why they did a 180 in a matter of minutes.

You have to have principles and actually stand by them or else your principles don't mean ѕhіt. I am against AI-generated music and I will not spend precious, authentic composing hours to participate in anything alongside charlatans.

Is there a maximum amount of submissions we can make?

5 hours ago, AngelCityOutlaw said:

Reporting them meant nothing. Their Suno prompt is still in the event and the staff didn't even really offer an explanation for why they did a 180 in a matter of minutes.

You have to have principles and actually stand by them or else your principles don't mean ѕhіt. I am against AI-generated music and I will not spend precious, authentic composing hours to participate in anything alongside charlatans.

 

I think that the person behind the AI should receive a conduct. 

This. 

Anyways, here is my music. It is not quite done yet. I am going back to China, so I can't do it, because my laptop is also getting repaired. Refer to my status update.

I am done with my music!

Finally...

My stuff are here.

Ooh, I just dropped a short Christmas-y piece in with Piano/Keyboard works.  I'll mark it as my submission if that's okay, or do I need to post it here?  

8 hours ago, Crescent Roulade said:

Is there a maximum amount of submissions we can make?

No .. there are no rules!  You can submit as many pieces as you want.  @J. Lee Graham - yes, please submit a link to your piece in this thread.  Thanks for your participation!

1 hour ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

No .. there are no rules!  You can submit as many pieces as you want.  @J. Lee Graham - yes, please submit a link to your piece in this thread.  Thanks for your participation!

 

Okay then, thank you!

I have finally finished!

https://www.youngcomposers.com/t48750/2025-christmas-event-submission-march-of-the-gingerbread/#comment-1186762789

13 hours ago, AngelCityOutlaw said:

Reporting them meant nothing. Their Suno prompt is still in the event and the staff didn't even really offer an explanation for why they did a 180 in a matter of minutes.

You have to have principles and actually stand by them or else your principles don't mean ѕhіt. I am against AI-generated music and I will not spend precious, authentic composing hours to participate in anything alongside charlatans.

Hey Chris I know your agitation, because it seems to you that we are doing nothing on the AI issue on the forum. But the truth is, we as staff are taking a lot of time to discuss the whole issue and the settling down of it, at one point even very fiercely. (I'm sure you don't want to know how we argue) It's a really big issue so we need to be 100% clear on how we should handle it, since it could have affected the whole future of YC forum. It is because we as composers all know how precious it is for us to use our time to compose, so we need to handle it very carefully so no one's works would be depreciated on the forum, and the positive culture can be maintained. So, can you give us a bit more time Chris?

Henry

@J. Lee Graham's submission to the event:

36 minutes ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Hey Chris I know your agitation, because it seems to you that we are doing nothing on the AI issue on the forum. But the truth is, we as staff are taking a lot of time to discuss the whole issue and the settling down of it, at one point even very fiercely. (I'm sure you don't want to know how we argue) It's a really big issue so we need to be 100% clear on how we should handle it, since it could have affected the whole future of YC forum. It is because we as composers all know how precious it is for us to use our time to compose, so we need to handle it very carefully so no one's works would be depreciated on the forum, and the positive culture can be maintained. So, can you give us a bit more time Chris?

Henry

 

I didn't say I'm never coming back to the forums or something (yet) but I'm not participating in this event anymore and I've now explained myself to a number of people who've quoted me.

Here's my submission!

Perhaps I should have waited till Christmas Eve for its publication, though in the end I reckoned the sooner might as well be the better.
 

P.S.: I wholeheartedly agree with the distressing concerns brought forth by @AngelCityOutlaw regarding the AI-generated music submitted for this event. It should go without saying that allowing AI-generated material to be presented on par with compositions requering hours upon hours of effort and dedication could run the risk of severly undermining the legitimacy and ultimate purpose of these community events, not just on account of the frictions and controversies caused by the presence and promotion of AI-generated content, but also on a more fundamental level which has been thoroughly implied over the course of this discussion.

Despite this, I firmly believe those who want to participate and submit their art should not hesitate to do so. Why let so much time, effort and dedication go to waste after creating a work of art that is in any capacity worth far more than mere AI imitations? My take is that we should not be deterred, but rather emboldened in the face of these dire circumstances we are living through, that we may adapt to this unsettling trend and make our art known regardless. In fact, that's precisely why I think it's more important than ever not to refrain from posting our own music, lest we inadvertently pave the way for more of this AI-generated music to claim our place.

It is rumoured that the Dead Internet Theory may as well soon become an increasingly encroaching and inexorable reality. By refusing to yield to the tide and sharing more of our own creations, hopefully we might briefly forestall such a harrowing prospect for this tiny little corner of the Internet where so many creative wonders are being posted and discussed every single day. The point is not to force these AI-generated compositions out by decree, but to make it so that the abundant music produced by humans in this forum may flourish beyond the scope of neural networks being used as amoral tools or shortcuts to achieve similar results in appearance, yet severely lacking in personal significance, emotional depth or even a core message capable of steering the course of the compositional process. Banning AI-generated music will not ameliorate the problem at large, but composing music through righteous hardship might as well be the only substantial antidote against the proliferation and normalization of this kind of content.

That being said, I'm certain this must be quite a difficult point of contention for the forum's staff to deal with and try to find a meaningful solution for, so I won't comment further on the subject matter. In any case, I hope whichever resolution or agreement is reached on this issue will allow the course of these community events to carry on peacefully and with respect towards the time, effort and dedication proportionally invested into each submission. It is good to know that this matter is being seriously discussed by staff and high-ranking members alike, and as such I would like to thank @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu and @PeterthePapercomPoser among others for their dutiful labour in calmly trying to sort out things amidst the heat of the debate.

Edited December 20, 2025Dec 20 by Fugax Contrapunctus

My submission for the event can be found here:

My submission. Enjoy! ❄️☃️

@SeekJohn14v6 has also entered a piece which was created with the assistance of AI (Suno):

3 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

@SeekJohn14v6 has also entered a piece which was created with the assistance of AI (Suno):

 

oh great another AI piece.

Still participating in this event as committed although I am quite busy lately lol

Here is my first submission (of two) to the YCF 2025 Christmas Event.

This is my second (and „official“) submission to the YCF 2025 Christmas Event.

Disclaimer: I must admit that my first submission „The empty church“ is based on the same material like this one, to be more precisely, it is literally the Basso Continuo part of this pastorale. 

Taking into account how many discussions arose concerning the usage of AI, I would be willing to withdraw „The empty church“ from the event on demand if anyone claims that he/she does not want to review the same material twice.

However, I spent a lot of time in realizing the Basso Continuo part and now enjoy it so much that I have decided to give it its own score and video, making it a piece in its own right.

Edited December 24, 2025Dec 24 by Wieland Handke
Added link

Here's my submission!

I forgot about this, but may as well link the Christmas miniature I posted this morning.

Hello friends. Merry Christmas! I've spent this December 25th afternoon listening to the entries in this fantastic thread (if I missed any, it was unintentional). I’ve enjoyed it so much. I love hearing different approaches to a specific theme. I'm not much for celebrating Christmas in a traditional way, but I must confess that every year this period stirs up feelings that I sometimes try to capture. So, I wrote this little piece last year, (totally) inspired by Arvo Pärt. Best regards.

Edited December 25, 2025Dec 25 by Luis Hernández