A word about membership.
Being a member of Nashville Music Pros is a privilege and not a right. While we wish we could approve everyone who wants to be a member, that is just not possible given the scope and purpose of this site. There are a certain criteria used in the approval process. Foremost, we have to be convinced that you work (or have worked) professionally in the Nashville community and have, at minimum, some history of verifiable professional music business activity. We also grant membership to those studying and pursuing a degree in music related fields at local universities and/or trade schools. If you see members that are from out-of-town or from another country, you can bet they have done a significant amount of recording or verifiable work in our community, either presently or in the past. There are also other factors that we use to determine membership such as credits on sites like allmusic.com, google searches and references listed in the sign up submission. Some membership approvals are subjective and are left to the discretion of the site owner and/or board of advisers. We reserve the right to deny membership or terminate memberships at any time. (Please read the policies on bans below.)

Just because you received an invitation to join from a current member does not guarantee that you will meet the requirements for membership. If you feel that you or someone you know was denied membership in contrast to our guidelines, please send a message to Bret Teegarden for consideration. Those who do not pass the approval process are certainly most welcomed to view and follow the site so they can keep up with what is going on in the Nashville Music Community.

Can I be banned from the site, and why?
Unfortunately, yes. And here are the reasons:

1.Unprofessional Behavior - Posting Slanderous Remarks.

2. Excessive Spam  or Promotional Commenting on Member Profiles, Including Promotional Graphics on member comments or posting commercial promotions in the forums. It is our desire to reserve the forum for discussion topics only. All postings with promotional content is in risk of being deleted from the forum. Please use discretion if you plan to post the same promotional message on every member's/friend's profile. This will most likely get you your first warning.

3. Using the Invite/RSVP function in the events area to send invites to non-NMP members (i.e. your address book or email lists) is grounds for an immediate no-questions-asked ban. Also, the Events are for music related events held in the metro Nashville area only. Please do not post out of town events or meetings for Multi-Level Marketing Schemes and the like. This includes ads for services.

4. Uploading inappropriate content such as nudity, profanity or hateful material.

5. Misrepresentations. Posing as someone you are not or acting in a manner that misleads other members.

If violations of the above are found, the member will be warned (with exception to mass emailing from the events area) and given the opportunity to correct their ways. A second infraction will result in a ban. Also, all members are encouraged to report possible violators by using the "Report An Issue" link at the bottom of every page.

So if I can't SPAM, how do I promote myself here?
It's easy really, you can do anything you want on your profile and your personal blogs do get listed for a period on the main page. Your profile has a text box in the middle section where you can post videos, pictures, HTML, text and embed just about anything. You can leave a comment to everybody if you want to take the time to do that, but make sure it is a genuine "I'd like to introduce myself" type message. This will drive members to your profile. You can also be an active contributer to forums but refrain from posting forum topics designed to promote yourself or your event. Use the Classifieds section of the site. It's free and your ad will remain for 30 days. But if you want the most exposure, consider taking out an Ad like you see to the right. Rates are competitive with other web sites but your target audience is all right here... Send an email and ask for more info.

A Word About Video Uploads
I ask that no videos in the form of promotion or advertising, such as EPKs, offers for goods and/or services and promos for events, be uploaded to the general video area. There may be some confusion as to adding videos to your profile. While videos you upload via the video upload system are tied to your profile they become part of the general pool of available videos. Since we like to list the most recently added videos on the main page, any videos approved for display are shown and linked there for some time. If you have a video that is promotional in nature, you are certainly encouraged to use a service like YouTube and then embed that video in the text area of your own profile page. If you need help doing this, be sure to message Bret Teegarden.

Also, any promotional videos posted in forum discussions will be deleted.

Acceptable video uploads for general viewing are: humor, music videos, studio recording sessions, concert footage, news, instructional (as long as they are not selling something else) or general items of interest (that are not promotional in nature). Simple titles denoting the content and the artist (if it is a music or performance video) are certainly acceptable.

Please be encouraged to promote as much as you want on your own profile!

How do I make a comment?
If someone makes a comment on your profile, the best way to comment back to them is to use the "comment back" link in the bottom of their comment. This will take you to their profile where you can enter your comment. You may have to scroll down a little depending on how many things they have posted on their profile. Making a comment this way will notify the recipient that you made a comment plus it displays your action in the Latest Activity column. This helps the community know you're around and generates more activity, usually directed back to you!

Someone left an inappropriate comment on my profile!
You have the ability to delete any comments on your profile page. You can also delete any post you make in a forum topic. To delete a comment just click the small red "X" in the bottom right portion of the comment in question. To delete a post just use the "Delete" link at the end of your post.

Why does my profile picture look out of proportion?
This is usually caused by uploading a graphic file or format that is much too large for the space allotted for the avatar, or the dimensions of the photo are an extreme proportion, like really wide or really tall. The best image to use for your profile picture is a standard portrait or landscape dimension no larger than 400 by 300 pixels at 72dpi. Square actually works best. Also, when you are uploading a image file, please make sure there are no odd characters like "&, !, @, #, $, or % in the file name. Just Aa-Zz and numbers 0-9. A dash or underscore (-, _) are acceptable for denoting a space but try not to have actual spaces in your file name.

Can I send someone a "private" message or comment?
Yes, there is a private messaging system within NMP. You can send someone a private message by using the link "Send Message" just under their profile picture. If someone sends you a message, you will get an email notification. You can use the link in the email to go directly to the message or when you are logged in to the site, you can retrieve the message via the mail icon in the upper left corner of the page, next to your profile name.

How do I edit my profile?
This is easily accomplished by using the "Edit Profile Appearance" link on your profile page. It is just under the Header/Menu, above your picture. You can pick pre-made themes or you can edit the colors and upload your own header and background images. For those of you that are very web savvy, you can edit the CSS that controls your profile in the "Advanced" tab.

How do I stop all the emails?
The NMP site has a very elaborate email notification sytem that will send you an email notifying you of any changes to many things that happen on the site. The good news is you have full control over what you get or don't get. You can control these via the "My Profile Setting" page. The link is always available just below the Header/Menu in the upper right area of the page content. Once on the My Profile Settings page, there is an Email link in the left side menu. You can select or reselect any options you desire.

What other things can I control?
From the "My Profile Settings" page you can control various items such as; who can view or comment on your photos and blogs, what activity is displayed in the Latest Activity Window, your account information, and your "About Me" information. Note: your profile picture can be changed from the "Account" menu.