FAQ

Everything people write in and ask about MUSIC CUP, gathered in one place. If your question is about how a tournament actually runs, the how to play page goes step by step. If it is about who runs this site, that lives on the about page.

The basics

What is MUSIC CUP?

It is a free browser game that turns any artist's catalogue into a knockout tournament. You search a name, their songs are drawn into a bracket, and you pick a winner from each pair until one track is left standing. People also call the format a song world cup, a music world cup, an ideal type world cup or simply a bracket game. It is the same idea under every name.

Does it cost anything?

No. Every part of the game is free. There is no paid tier, no trial that expires, nothing to unlock and nothing to buy. You do not need an account to play, and you do not need to download an app.

Do I have to sign up?

No. Playing is completely anonymous. An optional account exists if you want your finished tournaments kept across devices, but the game itself never asks for one, and skipping it costs you nothing except that history.

Does it work on my phone?

Yes, and it was designed for phones before anything else. It runs in mobile Safari, Chrome on Android, the browser built into WeChat, and every desktop browser we have tested. You can also add it to your home screen so it opens full screen like an app.

Songs and artists

Where do the songs come from?

From the official music catalogues of the major stores. That is why almost any released artist can be searched, why the artwork is the real cover art, and why most tracks come with a short preview clip you can play during a matchup.

Which artists can I use?

Nearly anyone with a released discography. Mandarin, Cantonese, English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai, Hindi, French, German, Russian and Indonesian artists all work. Very new or very obscure acts sometimes have too few tracks available for a full bracket, in which case a smaller knockout is offered instead.

Why is a song missing, or a duplicate showing up?

Catalogues differ by country, and the same recording can appear under several releases, so a track may be absent in one store and present in another, or turn up twice under slightly different titles. Custom mode is the cure for both. You pick the exact field, so you can drop a duplicate or leave out a version you do not want.

Why did I get a different set of songs than my friend?

Popular songs and random songs draw different fields, and the store the catalogue comes from follows the interface language. If you want two people playing the identical bracket, use the invite link from the home page. It sends the same songs in the same positions.

How a tournament works

How many songs are in a tournament?

Up to 48. Large fields open with a group stage of four songs each, then a wildcard round rescues a few that went out of a tough group, and the survivors enter the knockout rounds. Smaller fields skip the group stage and go straight to a knockout of 16, 8 or 4. In custom mode you choose the size yourself.

Can I undo a choice?

Yes. There is an undo, and it steps back through the rounds rather than only the last click, so a matchup you rushed is recoverable.

Can I stop in the middle and come back?

Yes. Progress is stored in your own browser. Close the tab, come back tomorrow, and the tournament is still at the round you left. Nothing needs to be saved manually. Clearing your browser data or switching to a different device will start you fresh.

What happens when a champion is decided?

An image of the champion's route through the bracket is drawn for you, showing which songs it beat on the way. You can save it, share it, or send a link that opens the result as a page. The outcome is also counted into the public charts.

The public charts

What do the charts actually measure?

How often fans crown a song. That is the whole formula. A song ranks by the number of tournaments it has won, and an artist ranks by the total across their songs. There is no popularity score, no streaming data and no editorial weighting mixed in. Browse them at musiccup.app/rank.

Is anything about me recorded when I finish a tournament?

The result of the tournament is counted anonymously. No name, no account, no identifier of yours is attached to it. Details of what is and is not collected are set out in the privacy policy.

How often do the charts update?

They are rebuilt and published in batches rather than updated live, so a song you crowned today shows up in a later edition rather than instantly.

Why is an artist I played missing from the charts?

Most likely the charts have not been rebuilt since that tournament, so an artist played for the first time appears in a later edition rather than immediately. The other reason is the catalogue behind the charts. Entries that cannot be matched to a real track in the official music catalogues are left out rather than guessed at, which keeps mislabelled and duplicated titles from cluttering the list.

Languages and access

Which languages are supported?

Fourteen interface languages. English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Arabic, Thai, Hindi, French, Portuguese, Russian, Indonesian and German. Arabic runs in full right to left layout. The language you choose also decides which regional catalogue the search uses, which is what makes song titles come back in the script you expect.

How do I change the language?

Use the language button at the bottom of the home page, or open the page with the language in the address, for example musiccup.app/?lang=ja. The home page footer also links every language version directly.

Does it work offline?

Partly. The page itself can open without a connection once it has been visited, but searching for an artist and loading songs needs the network.

Anything else

Who makes MUSIC CUP?

Two people in Singapore, under Lambda Tech PTE. LTD. The about page has the full story, along with contact details.

I found a bug, or I have an idea.

Both are welcome. Write to [email protected], or post in the community at r/MusicCup. Requests from players are where a good share of the current features came from.

Is this the official site?

The only official MUSIC CUP website is musiccup.app. Anything served from another address is not run by us.