ThatSMS was created to help voices travel beyond familiar rooms and reach listeners everywhere. Whether you sing professionally, perform occasionally or have so far kept your voice mostly to yourself, this is a stage where your performance can be discovered, heard and supported.
To keep the experience fair, transparent and enjoyable for every participant and listener, ThatSMS follows a common set of rules. Please read the following Terms & Conditions carefully before submitting your performance. By participating in ThatSMS 2026, you confirm that you have understood and agreed to them.
That Shower Mic Singer, referred to as “ThatSMS”, is a web-native vocal performance contest organised and administered by Bangali Network, operating under the stylised public name Bangali.Network. Throughout these Terms & Conditions, “Bangali.Network” refers to the registered entity Bangali Network.
Participants submit recorded vocal performances through the official ThatSMS submission form. Eligible performances are published on ThatStage, where listeners can discover performers and express their support through ThatMic.
Audience response determines qualification for the Top 30 and the Popular Voice recognition according to the published format. Professionally judged recognitions are determined by a panel of two music professionals in accordance with the published judging process.
ThatSMS is not an audition for employment, a recording contract, representation, admission to another programme or any opportunity not expressly stated on the official contest pages.
Submissions will be accepted from 30 August to 27 September 2026.
Audience voting through ThatMic will remain open until 30 September 2026.
The ThatSMS 2026 award recipients will be announced on 1 October 2026 — International Music Day. The individual professionally judged award titles will be revealed in December 2026 at SAMIHA — the annual cultural event of Bangali.Network.
Bangali.Network may revise any contest date when reasonably necessary because of technical disruption, operational requirements, circumstances affecting the judging process or events beyond its reasonable control. Any material change will be published on the official Bangali.Network website and announced through the official social-media accounts of Bangali.Network. It may also be communicated through the official ThatSMS website and social-media accounts.
Participation is open to Indian nationals who are at least 18 years old on the date of submission. Indian nationals may participate from any country.
A participant may be required to provide reasonable proof of identity, age or Indian nationality before eligibility, qualification or any recognition is confirmed.
Employees, partners or members of the core organising team of Bangali.Network who are directly involved in administering ThatSMS may not participate. Judges and individuals directly involved in the judging process may not participate.
Submitting false, misleading, impersonated or unverifiable information may result in rejection or disqualification.
Only one active entry is permitted per participant during ThatSMS 2026.
Submitting through multiple email addresses, telephone numbers, accounts or identities does not create additional eligibility. If more than one active entry is identified for the same participant, Bangali.Network may reject all subsequent entries or retain only the earliest eligible entry.
A participant may remove a newly submitted entry during the one-hour removal window provided by the submission system. Once the entry has been removed successfully within that period, it will no longer be treated as the participant’s active entry. A later submission by the same participant will then be considered a fresh entry.
The removal of an entry does not reserve its contestant number, publication position or any information associated with it. The replacement entry must independently satisfy all eligibility, submission and technical requirements.
Once the one-hour removal window has expired, the participant may not replace the entry merely to submit a different performance, except where Bangali.Network expressly permits a replacement to correct a verified technical problem.
A performance involving more than one principal vocalist is not eligible unless a duet or group format is expressly introduced by Bangali.Network.
All performances must be submitted through the official ThatSMS submission form within the published submission period.
Submissions received through email, social media, messaging applications, physical media or any unofficial channel will not be considered unless Bangali.Network expressly requests or authorises an alternative method.
The participant must provide complete and accurate information, upload the required performance file and accept the declarations presented in the submission form.
A successful file upload or form submission does not automatically establish eligibility, selection or publication. Every submission remains subject to technical review, moderation and verification.
Bangali.Network may contact the participant using the submitted email address, telephone number or WhatsApp number for verification, clarification, moderation, contest administration or information relating to ThatSMS and SAMIHA.
The submitted video must:
🔹 contain a vocal performance by the participant;
🔹 be no longer than three minutes;
🔹 feature a performance in any language;
🔹 be recorded specifically or appropriately presented for participation in ThatSMS;
🔹 contain either an unaccompanied vocal performance or accompaniment played by the participant on a single musical instrument;
🔹 clearly show and audibly present the participating performer;
🔹 be sufficiently clear for listeners and judges to assess the performance; and
🔹 comply with the technical instructions stated on the submission page.
Pre-recorded backing tracks, karaoke tracks, externally produced accompaniment, accompaniment performed by another person, lip-syncing and undisclosed replacement of the participant’s natural performance are not permitted.
Ordinary recording adjustments such as trimming the beginning or end, correcting orientation, balancing volume or improving basic visibility may be accepted. Editing that materially alters, fabricates, replaces or misrepresents the vocal performance is not permitted.
Bangali.Network may reject a video that is incomplete, inaccessible, corrupted, inaudible, misleading, excessively edited or unsuitable for publication.
The submitted vocal performance must be the participant’s own genuine performance.
The participant must not use artificial intelligence, voice cloning, synthetic vocals, vocal replacement, deceptive pitch reconstruction or any other technology to fabricate or substantially misrepresent the performed voice.
Reasonable recording, noise-reduction or mastering tools may be used only when they do not materially change the identity or substance of the performance.
Bangali.Network may request the original recording file or further verification if the authenticity of a performance is reasonably questioned. Refusal or inability to provide reasonable verification may result in rejection or disqualification.
A submission must not contain:
🔹 unlawful, threatening, hateful, defamatory, discriminatory or obscene material;
🔹 targeted harassment or abuse;
sexually explicit content;
🔹 dangerous conduct presented without legitimate context;
🔹 deliberate misinformation about another person;
🔹 unauthorised advertising or promotional material;
🔹 visible personal information that creates a privacy or safety concern;
🔹 content that infringes another person’s copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other rights; or
🔹 anything that Bangali.Network reasonably considers unsuitable for the contest or its audience.
Bangali.Network may decline to publish, temporarily hide or remove any submission that does not satisfy these standards.
Such a decision does not necessarily constitute a judgement on the participant’s artistic ability.
The participant is responsible for selecting and performing material that may lawfully be submitted, recorded and published in the manner required by ThatSMS.
By submitting, the participant confirms that:
🔹 the recorded vocal performance belongs to the participant;
🔹 the participant has not used an unauthorised karaoke track, backing track or third-party recording;
🔹 any instrument heard in the performance has been played by the participant;
🔹 the submitted video does not unlawfully incorporate another person’s protected recording, video, artwork or performance; and
🔹 the information provided about the song and performance is accurate to the best of the participant’s knowledge.
Performing a song does not transfer ownership of its underlying lyrics or musical composition to the participant or to Bangali.Network. All rights in an underlying song remain with their respective lawful owners.
If Bangali.Network receives a credible copyright complaint, legal notice or platform restriction concerning a submission, it may temporarily restrict access to or remove the performance while the matter is reviewed. Where reasonably practicable, Bangali.Network will seek to act on a credible complaint within 24 hours.
The participant remains responsible for claims arising from material supplied by the participant. Removal of a performance for copyright or rights-related reasons may affect or terminate its continued participation in the contest.
The participant retains ownership of the participant’s original performance recording, subject to any rights belonging to the creators or owners of the underlying song.
By submitting an entry, the participant grants Bangali.Network a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free permission to host, reproduce, store, format, edit for length or presentation, resize, crop, transcode, caption, display, stream, publish and communicate the submitted video, photographs and related materials for purposes connected with:
🔹 administering and presenting ThatSMS;
🔹 publishing performances on ThatStage;
🔹 enabling audience discovery and participation;
🔹 evaluating performances and announcing results;
🔹 promoting or documenting ThatSMS, ThatStage, ThatMic, SAMIHA and related Bangali.Network activities;
🔹 publishing editorial, promotional and archival content; and
🔹 maintaining a record of the contest and its recipients.
This permission applies to the websites and official social-media accounts operated by Bangali.Network and ThatSMS, including any current or future official accounts on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other digital platforms used for contest-related publication or promotion.
Bangali.Network may use the participant’s submitted name, profile photograph, biography, contestant number, performance video, still frames, excerpts and related contest information in posts, reels, stories, shorts, advertisements, compilations, announcements, result creatives and other contest-related materials.
These materials may also appear in contest promotions carrying the name, logo or acknowledgement of a sponsor, presenting partner, title partner, media partner or other official partner associated with ThatSMS or SAMIHA.
Such co-branded or sponsored promotion does not transfer ownership of the participant’s submission to the sponsor or partner. A sponsor or partner may not independently use the participant’s identity or submitted materials for an unrelated endorsement or standalone commercial advertisement unless separate permission is obtained where required.
The participant understands that no fee, royalty, appearance charge, endorsement fee or other additional payment will become payable merely because Bangali.Network:
🔹 publishes or republishes the submitted materials;
🔹 promotes the participant or performance through its official channels;
🔹 uses the materials in organic or paid contest promotion;
🔹 includes the materials in a sponsor-supported or co-branded ThatSMS campaign; or
🔹 continues to display contest-related posts or archival material after the contest has concluded.
This permission does not transfer ownership of the participant’s recording to Bangali.Network and does not permit Bangali.Network to sell the performance as a standalone commercial recording.
Bangali.Network may make reasonable editorial and technical changes for platform compatibility, duration, layout, branding or accessibility, provided such changes do not deliberately misrepresent the participant or materially falsify the vocal performance.
Eligible submissions may be published on ThatStage after review.
Publication order may depend on submission volume, verification, processing time and operational requirements. A delay in publication does not by itself indicate rejection.
Each published participant will receive a contestant number for identification within ThatSMS 2026. Contestant numbers are administrative identifiers and do not indicate ranking, preference, submission merit or an advantage in the contest.
Bangali.Network may correct titles, spellings, formatting, technical presentation or categorisation without materially altering the participant’s performance.
Bangali.Network may contact the participant before publication if a replacement file, corrected information or additional confirmation is required.
ThatMic is the official audience-response mechanism used for ThatSMS.
Listeners may give a published performance a ThatMic through the official interface. A ThatMic becomes available only after the listener has remained on the performance page for the minimum period determined by the contest system.
The displayed ThatMic count may be subject to technical processing, validation, reconciliation or correction.
A visible count is provisional until Bangali.Network completes the required integrity checks. Displayed totals may therefore differ from the number of responses ultimately treated as valid.
A ThatMic is an expression of audience support within the contest. It is not a financial contribution, contractual vote, guarantee of selection or professional assessment of the performance.
Participants may share their official performance pages and invite people to listen and respond.
Participants must not:
🔹 purchase votes, clicks, engagements or automated traffic;
🔹 use bots, scripts, click farms, device farms or automated systems;
🔹 offer money, gifts, services, reciprocal votes or other consideration in exchange for ThatMics;
🔹 create, obtain or coordinate false identities or accounts;
🔹 manipulate browsers, devices, networks or technical identifiers to generate artificial responses;
🔹 mislead people about what a ThatMic represents;
🔹 interfere with another participant’s page, performance or audience activity; or
🔹 engage another person or service to perform any prohibited activity on their behalf.
Bangali.Network may examine server logs, response patterns, IP or device-related information, timing, referral activity and other technical or behavioural indicators for the limited purposes of fraud prevention, security and voting integrity.
Bangali.Network may disregard invalid responses, revise displayed totals, suspend voting activity, request an explanation or disqualify a participant where artificial or coordinated manipulation is reasonably established.
A participant will not automatically be penalised merely because suspicious activity appears on the participant’s page. Bangali.Network will consider the available evidence and whether the participant appears to have initiated, encouraged or knowingly benefited from the activity.
The details of anti-abuse systems may remain confidential where disclosure could make manipulation easier.
The 30 eligible performances receiving the highest number of valid ThatMics by the close of voting will qualify for the Top 30.
Only validated audience responses will be considered when the Top 30 is finalised.
If a performance is removed, withdrawn or disqualified before the Top 30 is confirmed, the next eligible performance may advance according to the validated standings.
Bangali.Network may temporarily withhold the displayed ranking or final qualification status while audience activity is being verified.
Qualification for the Top 30 is determined by audience response and does not represent a professional judgement by Bangali.Network or the judging panel.
Popular Voice is the audience-determined recognition within ThatSMS.
Subject to eligibility and voting-integrity verification, the eligible performance receiving the highest number of valid ThatMics at the close of voting will receive the Popular Voice recognition.
The Popular Voice recipient may also be considered for professionally judged recognitions, unless the published recognition structure expressly states otherwise.
The Top 30 performances will be evaluated by a panel of two music professionals invited by Bangali.Network.
The judges will consider each eligible Top 30 performance as a whole in accordance with the published judging criteria.
After considering the performance as a whole, each judge will assign one overall professional score out of 10. The average of the two judges’ scores will determine the final professional score.
Professional scores provide a structured basis for evaluating the Top 30. The judging panel will determine the professionally judged recognitions after considering the performances, the published criteria and the resulting professional scores.
The judges may exercise artistic judgement where performances display different strengths that cannot be represented fully through a purely mechanical comparison.
The judges’ artistic assessment is final. Bangali.Network remains responsible for verifying eligibility, voting integrity and compliance with the contest rules before the results are declared.
Bangali.Network will not require the judging panel to favour or disadvantage any participant.
If validated audience response produces a tie affecting qualification for the Top 30 or Popular Voice, Bangali.Network may apply a previously published tie-resolution method or request an additional determination consistent with the contest format.
If professional scores result in a tie affecting a professionally judged recognition, the judging panel may reconsider the tied performances and make a final artistic determination.
Bangali.Network may resolve an unforeseen ranking or administrative situation in a manner it reasonably considers fair, consistent and least disruptive to the published contest structure.
ThatSMS 2026 may confer the following recognitions:
🔹 ThatSMS Champion;
🔹 ThatSMS Vice-Champion;
🔹 ThatSMS Popular Voice;
🔹 ThatSMS Dynamic Performer - Male;
🔹 ThatSMS Dynamic Performer - Female;
🔹 ThatSMS Outstanding Voice; and
🔹 ThatSMS Star Performer.
The number of recipients within a recognition category will follow the official ThatSMS 2026 format published by Bangali.Network.
Bangali.Network may withhold or modify a recognition if no eligible performance satisfies an essential requirement, if a recipient becomes ineligible or if an unforeseen circumstance makes the original presentation impracticable.
A recognition does not create an employment relationship, professional representation, recording agreement or promise of future work with Bangali.Network, a judge, a partner or any associated person.
The ThatSMS 2026 award recipients will be announced on 1 October 2026.
The individual professionally judged award titles will be revealed at SAMIHA, the annual cultural event organised by Bangali.Network.
Selected recipients may be invited to attend SAMIHA in accordance with the event’s published invitation, booking and attendance arrangements.
Attendance at SAMIHA may be required for an on-stage presentation but will not, by itself, determine whether a duly selected recipient is entitled to the underlying recognition.
Where a recipient cannot attend, delivery, collection or alternative presentation of any physical recognition will follow the applicable SAMIHA or Bangali.Network policy.
Travel, accommodation and other personal expenses are not included unless Bangali.Network expressly confirms otherwise in writing.
The form, design and presentation of trophies, medals, certificates or other physical recognitions may vary from promotional representations where reasonably necessary.
Recipients must provide accurate delivery information within the requested period.
Bangali.Network is not responsible for delay, failed delivery or loss caused by an incomplete or incorrect address, refusal to accept a shipment, restrictions imposed by a courier or events beyond its reasonable control.
Any location-based restriction, delivery timeline or collection requirement will follow the policy published for SAMIHA and the applicable recognition.
A participant may be asked to bear a repeated-delivery or redirection cost when the original attempt failed because of incorrect information or circumstances attributable to the recipient.
A participant may remove a submitted entry through the official removal facility during the one-hour window beginning immediately after submission.
If the entry is successfully removed within that window:
🔹 it will cease to be the participant’s active entry;
🔹 it will not continue in the contest;
🔹 its contestant number or publication position will not be reserved; and
🔹 a subsequent submission from the same participant will be considered a fresh entry.
The participant is responsible for completing the removal within the available one-hour period. Beginning the process before the deadline does not extend the window if removal is not completed successfully.
After the one-hour removal window has expired, an entry ordinarily cannot be replaced with a different performance. Bangali.Network may permit a corrected or replacement file only where it identifies or verifies a genuine technical problem and expressly authorises the replacement.
A participant may still request withdrawal from the contest after the one-hour window. Withdrawal ends the entry’s eligibility for further participation and recognition but does not create a right to submit another entry.
Where a withdrawal request is received after publication, voting, promotion, Top 30 qualification or preparation of the results, Bangali.Network may not be able to reverse every published reference, audience response, ranking, social-media post, promotional item or archival record.
Reasonable time may be required to remove a withdrawn performance from active website pages. Copies may continue to exist temporarily in caches, backups, previously published social-media content, shared posts or third-party systems outside Bangali.Network’s direct control.
Bangali.Network may reject, remove or disqualify a submission where:
🔹 the participant is ineligible;
🔹 the submitted information is false, incomplete or misleading;
🔹 the performance does not satisfy the published format;
🔹 the submission infringes or appears credibly to infringe another person’s rights;
🔹 artificial audience activity or prohibited solicitation is established;
🔹 the participant attempts to interfere with the contest, another participant or the judging process;
🔹 the participant behaves in a threatening, abusive or fraudulent manner toward organisers, judges, listeners or other participants;
required verification is not completed;
🔹 the performance has been materially misrepresented; or
🔹 continued participation would violate law, platform requirements or the integrity of the contest.
Where reasonably practicable, Bangali.Network may seek clarification before disqualification. It is not required to disclose confidential security information, anti-abuse methods or private information belonging to another person.
Disqualification may occur before or after publication, Top 30 qualification or an initial result announcement if the relevant facts become known later.
If a recipient is disqualified, Bangali.Network may withdraw the recognition and, where appropriate, confer it on another eligible participant after consulting the judging panel or applying the relevant ranking process.
Participants must communicate respectfully with fellow participants, listeners, judges, organisers and associated personnel.
Disagreement with an audience response, professional assessment or administrative decision does not permit harassment, threats, coordinated abuse, defamatory allegations or disclosure of another person’s private information.
Bangali.Network may limit or discontinue communication with a person who behaves abusively or repeatedly uses official channels for spam, harassment or attempts to improperly influence the contest.
Reasonable questions about rules, eligibility, technical problems or individual submissions may be sent through the official contact channel.
Bangali.Network may announce and promote participants, Top 30 qualifiers and recognition recipients using the names, profile photographs, submitted biographies, contestant numbers, performance excerpts and other contest-related materials supplied by them.
Bangali.Network may invite selected participants to provide additional photographs, quotations, interviews, recordings or event-related materials. Any request extending beyond the permissions granted through the original submission will be explained separately where necessary.
Participants must not publish or circulate a confidential result, private judging communication or embargoed announcement before Bangali.Network makes it public.
Bangali.Network will process submitted personal information for contest administration, verification, publication, audience participation, communication, fraud prevention, security, results, recognition delivery and related record-keeping.
Information intended for public display—such as the participant’s published name, photograph, biography, contestant number and performance—may be visible to anyone visiting ThatSMS, ThatStage or related public channels.
Private contact details and verification documents will not be published merely because they were submitted, unless the participant separately authorises their publication or disclosure is required by law.
Technical information may be processed to maintain site security, prevent abuse and validate audience activity.
Personal information will be handled in accordance with the Bangali.Network Privacy Policy available through the website footer.
Bangali.Network will make reasonable efforts to keep the submission system, ThatStage pages and ThatMic functionality available.
However, uninterrupted access cannot be guaranteed. Temporary interruption may occur because of maintenance, hosting failure, connectivity problems, malicious activity, software errors, device incompatibility, third-party services or circumstances beyond Bangali.Network’s reasonable control.
Participants are responsible for submitting sufficiently before the deadline and retaining a copy of their original file and submission information.
Bangali.Network is not responsible for a submission that remains incomplete, fails to upload or arrives after the deadline because of the participant’s device, internet connection or other circumstances outside Bangali.Network’s control.
If a widespread technical failure materially affects the contest, Bangali.Network may extend a deadline, restore affected data where possible or adopt another reasonable corrective measure.
Publication on ThatStage does not guarantee a particular number of views, ThatMics, shares, comments or other audience responses.
Differences in a participant’s personal network, sharing activity, publication timing, audience familiarity or online reach are inherent in an audience-response format.
Bangali.Network does not guarantee that every published performance will receive equal organic distribution on search engines, social-media platforms or third-party services.
Paid or editorial promotion by Bangali.Network, if any, does not guarantee qualification and must not be interpreted as professional endorsement or preferential judging.
Bangali.Network may make a reasonable change to these Terms & Conditions, the schedule, technical process, judging arrangements, recognition presentation or other operational details when necessary to:
🔹 correct an error or ambiguity;
🔹 protect participants or rights holders;
🔹 prevent fraud or manipulation;
🔹 respond to a technical or legal requirement;
🔹 address the unavailability of a judge, venue, service or facility; or
🔹 preserve the fairness and practical operation of the contest.
A material change will be communicated through an appropriate official channel. Changes will not be made for the purpose of unfairly favouring or disadvantaging a particular participant.
Bangali.Network may suspend, postpone or cancel ThatSMS 2026 if the contest cannot be conducted fairly, safely, lawfully or substantially in accordance with its intended format because of circumstances beyond reasonable control.
If suspension or cancellation becomes necessary, Bangali.Network will announce the decision and explain the practical consequences for existing submissions, voting and recognitions as clearly as circumstances permit.
Participants will not be entitled to compensation for speculative loss of publicity, opportunity, audience response or anticipated recognition arising solely from such suspension or cancellation.
Participants remain responsible for their own submissions, declarations, conduct and compliance with applicable law.
Bangali.Network is not responsible for disputes between a participant and a rights holder, collaborator, family member, employer, institution or any other third party arising from material or information submitted by the participant.
Nothing in these Terms & Conditions is intended to exclude a responsibility that cannot lawfully be excluded.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, Bangali.Network will not be responsible for indirect or consequential loss arising from participation, non-selection, interrupted access, third-party conduct or the unauthorised actions of another user.
Audience response determines qualification for the Top 30 and the Popular Voice recognition according to the published format.
Professionally judged recognitions are determined by the panel of two music professionals in accordance with the published judging process.
Decisions relating to eligibility, rule compliance, voting validity, technical administration and contest operations rest with Bangali.Network and are final.
Bangali.Network’s administrative authority does not permit it to replace or improperly influence the judging panel’s artistic assessment.
By submitting a performance, the participant confirms that the participant:
🔹 is an Indian national and is at least 18 years old;
🔹 has read and understood these Terms & Conditions;
🔹 has submitted no more than one active entry;
🔹 has provided accurate and verifiable information;
🔹 has the authority to submit the performance, photographs and related materials;
🔹 grants the publication and promotional permissions described in these Terms;
🔹 understands that contest-related use of the submitted materials, including sponsored or co-branded promotion through the official Bangali.Network and ThatSMS channels, does not create an entitlement to additional payment;
🔹 accepts the published audience and judging processes; and
🔹 agrees to comply with the contest rules and reasonable administrative requirements.
If a participant does not agree with these Terms & Conditions, the participant should not submit a performance.
Questions concerning ThatSMS 2026, including eligibility, submissions, copyright complaints and technical problems, may be directed to Bangali.Network through the following official contact details:
🔹 Email: contest@bangali.network
🔹 Phone: +91 78900 57100
For general participation-related questions, please check the Frequently Asked Questions first. If your question is not answered there, please contact the
Help Desk.
When contacting Bangali.Network about an existing submission, the participant should provide the submitted name, the contact details used for submission and the contestant number, where available.