Competition Integrity Policy

MyRhythm competitions exist to give young performers a fair stage and honest feedback. Fairness only means something if every result is earned on merit, free from manipulation, inducement or hidden connections.

This policy explains the standards everyone involved in a competition — organisers, entrants, parents and guardians, coaches and adjudicators — must follow, and what happens when those standards are breached.

Rigging means interfering with the outcome of a competition other than through fair judging of the performances themselves. It is prohibited for anyone to:

• Manipulate, fabricate or alter scores, votes, entries or results.
• Use accounts, votes or submissions created to inflate a result artificially.
• Share adjudication materials, scores or outcomes with an entrant before publication.
• Pressure, intimidate or collude with an adjudicator, organiser or other entrant.
• Use a role or administrator access to influence an entry's visibility, category or deadline.

No one may offer, request, give or accept any payment, gift, favour, advantage or threat intended to influence the outcome of a competition or the conduct of an adjudicator or organiser.

This includes offers made indirectly — through a parent, coach, studio or third party — and small courtesies that a reasonable person would see as intended to gain an advantage. Ordinary transparency about a genuine relationship is not bribery, but concealment of one is.

Suspected bribery is treated as a serious breach that may result in disqualification, account suspension and, where the law requires, referral to the relevant authorities.

A conflict of interest exists when an adjudicator's personal, professional or financial connections could reasonably be seen to affect their impartiality — for example judging an entry from their own student, family member, close friend, or a studio in which they have a role or interest.

Before adjudicating, every adjudicator must declare any such connection. MyRhythm manages declared conflicts by:

• Reassigning the affected entries to independent adjudicators.
• Blocking the conflicted adjudicator from viewing the scores or feedback of affected entries.
• Recording the declaration in the competition's audit trail.

Everyone involved in a MyRhythm competition shares responsibility for its integrity:

• Organisers: publish fair, clear criteria; manage conflicts; keep an audit trail of results.
• Adjudicators: judge on merit only; declare conflicts before judging; keep scores confidential until publication.
• Entrants, parents and guardians: submit original work; never offer inducements; report concerns honestly.
• MyRhythm: enforce these standards consistently and protect those who report in good faith.

If you believe a competition result has been rigged, an inducement has been offered, or an adjudicator has an undeclared conflict, report it via info@myrhythm.io with the subject line "Competition integrity", or through the Report button on the relevant competition page.

Reports can be made anonymously. We acknowledge every report within 24 hours and investigate promptly and impartially.

Investigations are handled by staff who are independent of the affected competition. Where a report involves a young performer, we take care that the person reporting, and any minor implicated in good faith, are treated fairly and with dignity throughout.

Outcomes may include correcting a result, disqualifying an entry, removing an adjudicator or organiser from a competition, suspending accounts involved, and — for serious cases — permanent account removal. Where a result is corrected, affected participants are told in plain language what changed and why.

MyRhythm strictly prohibits retaliation against anyone who reports an integrity concern in good faith. Retaliation is itself a breach of this policy and of the Acceptable Use & Community Standards.

Knowingly false reports intended to harm another member are also a breach — honest mistakes are never penalised.

The current version and effective date are shown at the top of this document. We give members at least 30 days' notice before a material change takes effect, and each version is listed in the version history below.