In addition to the rules outlined in our Terms of Use, the following rules apply to the Audio Portal:

Do not upload music you did not make because you want to use it in Geometry Dash.

In order for a song to be used in Geometry Dash, it must be added to an official whitelist by RobTop. This means any stolen music you upload to Newgrounds will NEVER appear in Geometry Dash and your account will be banned when you get caught trying.

Do not upload audio that you did not create and have full rights to.

Newgrounds is a place to share your own original works, not to post your favorite song from the radio or a song your friend asked you to upload. If you didn't make it, DO NOT upload it.

Collaborations are allowed but it is strongly advised that your first submission is not a collaboration. Please do not accept to be part of collaborations which you didn't contribute to.

Covers / Remixes

You may not upload a cover or remix of an unlicensed commercial song.

COVERS and REMIXES of existing songs are accepted if you have permission from the original artist or the original song is public domain. We can not accept covers of songs you've heard on the radio or anything else you don't have rights to. If the song is public domain or you have a license to cover it, please note these details in your author commentary to give clarity to the moderators.

Mash-ups of unlicensed commercial music are also not allowed due to similar rights issues.

Please ensure that your song is able to pass a “reasonable person test”, meaning that it does not sound similar or have VSTs or Synths that sound similar to copyrighted materials.

Nightcore (speeding up source material and increasing pitch) is not allowed even if you have permission to use the source material.

Samples / Stock Loops

You may not use copyrighted / unlicensed samples.

You aren't allowed to have ANY copyrighted samples in your song. Not even a millisecond. Movie quotes, game sound effects, acapellas of popular singers, etc. have a VERY good chance of being copyrighted.

You may not use stock loops/samples in an unoriginal arrangement.

There are plenty of pre-made loop packages available. Simply mixing these loops isn't your own original work; you will need to make more effort to create something unique.

Music made with Groovepad and similar software falls under the stock loops category.

We will be somewhat lenient with stock loop usage if your own original vocals are a big focus of the song, however we ask that you please clearly source where your loops are from and confirm you have full rights to use them. Also be sure to credit your vocals, even when it's you!

AI Music

Please do not share AI (made by machine learning algorithm) music here.

If your song was generated via AI, we do not consider this your own original work and you should not share it here. Subtle use of AI is acceptable, for example if you are using AI-generated components as part of a larger original composition.

MIDI

You may not upload a MIDI-rip or 1:1 recreation with new instruments.

Downloading a Zelda MIDI and assigning different instruments from the original is NOT your own work.

Similarly, if you remake a song by ear but the composition is 100% identical and only the instruments have changed, this also does not count as your own work. Your version must be original enough to not be recognized as a reskin.

Music Maker Restrictions

You may not upload music made with Magix Music Maker Jam, Soundation, you.dj, Ampify or BandLab (the mobile app, not Cakewalk).

Besides falling under the Stock Loops rule, Magix Music Maker Jam automatically puts all songs you create with it under its own license - uploading the song to Newgrounds is in violation of that license.

Soundation and you.dj have similar issues where you do not retain full rights to the music you create using these services.

Other Rules and Notes

Your audio should not contain sexual themes involving underage characters.

Examples of this include audio that may be described as ageplay, loli or shota. Adult-themed audio is fine but we don't want anything that would appeal to or attract pedophiles.

Your audio can not damage ears or be painful to listen to.

White noise, blowing into the microphone, screaming, text-to-speech, etc. doesn't belong in the Audio Portal.

Your may not remove and re-submit the same audio for personal gain.

This includes instances of trying to get a better score or trying to get another round of publicity. Once you have submitted audio, you can update the existing entry but you should not remove it purely for the sake of re-uploading it.

You should cite your resources.

VST's, samples, software, hardware, sound effects... these are all things you should mention in your Author's Comments, especially if it's your first submission. Posting "nice song" as Author's Comments and then submitting an amazing 5-minute song doesn't look very legitimate.

Credit your vocalist!

If there are vocals in your song, please credit your vocalist. If you are using vocals from a pack or from on-line, it's helpful to note the source and confirm you have rights to use the vocals.

If you have any queries on whether something is acceptable or not, ask an audio moderator.

This page was adapted from a post by Rig, say hi.