The trade

• One in, one out

  Offer a song and you are handed one of somebody else's at the same moment. Write about that one before you offer another. You can also just take a song without putting one in — that is welcome, and it is what keeps the pool moving.

• Listeners are random

  You do not choose whose song you get and nobody chooses yours. The song that has been waiting longest and heard by the fewest people goes first, so nothing sits there unheard.

• Every song goes round until 10 people have heard it

  This is not a competition and nothing here scores your music. A song keeps being handed to new listeners until 10 of them have written back. If 3 days go by with nobody picking it up, it comes home with whatever it collected and you can put it straight back in.

• Reviews are signed

  Your artist name goes on everything you write and links to your page. There is no anonymous reviewing here. That is the whole reason it stays civil.

• What you write is private

  A review is between the artist, you and Adam. The artist can choose to show one on their page, and that is their call alone.

• Careless with somebody's work and you are out

  Somebody handing you a song made it. Treat a review like a box to tick and you get one clear warning. After that Adam removes you from the exchange. Reports go to him and he decides himself — no pile-on can remove anybody.

You can have up to 3 of your own songs out at once. Nothing you put in here goes on the feed or a playlist — that only ever happens if Adam asks you and you say yes.