We'd like to thank the reviewers of the Recorded A Cappella Review Board (RARB) for 3 well-written and insightful opinions on Sing 3.  As usual you offer valuable critique to build upon and we very much appreciate it.  We're thrilled that the album has been received so well worldwide and we're really looking forward to where Tekay (Thomas King), the very first Sing Coordinator, takes the Sing series in 2007.  Stay tuned for submission guidelines and a special announcement regarding the 3rd evolution of Sing very soon!

The reviews were all largely on the money in our not-so-subjective opinions :)  To clarify a point alluded to in the reviews: the Sing tracks are selected in October each year by a 3 person committee, whereas the BOCA compilation is selected in November.  Last year's committee consisted of Joseph Bates, Nick Lyons, and Gillian Trimboli. We'd also like to clarify a few points about what the 'Sing'vehicle is all about:

Sing is an all-vocal compilation album encompassing both current collegiate groups and many professional groups.  Now in it's 4th installment, the Sing compilation has become the finest and most diverse vocal music compilation in the world.

Sing was created to showcase a slice of the best of contemporary a cappella to both the existing vocal music establishment and the a cappella virgin masses.  With Sing the AACI aims to give talented groups and individuals an opportunity to be heard on a worldwide stage by placing their music alongside some of the biggest names in the a cappella universe, and to foster cross-pollination between scholastic and professional groups.

The underlined sentences were the ones not mentioned in the review, but they're a huge part of what the album is about.  The original Sing album was intended to bring together some of the best professional and collegiate groups from across the South Eastern/Mid-Atlantic United States in order to create  synergy in the region, highlight to each other and the public where contemporary a cappella in this part of the world was "going", and to create buzz for a nascent concept that has  come to symbolize the region: the very first SoJam.  It created an opportunity for emergent college groups like Elon Twisted Measure to be on the same stage with established professional icons like Da Vinci's Notebook and Jon McLemore, allowing all participants the opportunity to have their music heard by an entirely new audience. It gave and continues to give participants the chance to learn from one another, to learn what else was out there, and to add fuel to the fire that makes us do this crazy thing called a cappella in the first place.

Sing 2 continued in this vein, but opened up submissions to all of North America as well as to High School groups.  We also began actively searching for groups who had recorded their own original music.  Though we didn't state it on our website at the time of review, this was and is a huge focus for us.  We feel that original music is  the future of the movement, and  all things bring equal we will choose an original track over a cover.  We were able to include 6 stellar original songs on Sing 2.

With Sing 3, we expanded our submission guidelines to include the entire world and again were able to bring some incredible original songs to many who would never have heard them otherwise.  When it went to replication, 6 of the tracks on Sing 3 were still unreleased, while 3 other tracks had just been released within the preceding 2 months.   It's true that we did include some older tracks like "The Trial" and "Kivinen Tie", but to us these tracks represent exactly what this compilation is about.

Ultimately, for the general public, Sing as a vehicle is designed to present "a slice of the very best of contemporary a cappella from around the world".   Our aspirations for it are on a broader level than the very small percentage of us aca-dorks who have heard/know all the songs already.  We'd love for it to one day be "the" showcase for recorded a cappella music, but we want to do it on a broader level.  We have plans in motion even now to make that happen.  Perhaps one day it will do its part to help us break into the mainstream, if not help unearth the future Deke Sharons, Bubs, and Rajatons of the world.