The Rules

"How does one define what makes music? What about a concert? A jam? These are some of the problems that arise when trying to quantify something as intangible as music. With regard to marathon world records, it can be hard to determine what 'counts' and what doesn't. As someone who has organized such efforts in the past, it is my informed opinion that a large majority of the generally accepted rules regarding marathon, musical world records have been unnecessary at best, and detrimental to the 'spirit of the thing' at worst. By some standards, all music must be 'recognizable' with no 'jamming'...but, as musicians, when does 'jamming' start and rehearsed music end? During Chico Breaks the Record, for instance, we had Coolio himself show up at 4 am and play an impromptu set with the house band and myself. When he asked us to 'make something up' for him to rap to...we weren't going to tell him no. When 300-400 people a day are attending a concert, but it drops to 10 people at 4 am on occasion, and volunteers start having sleep-deprived panic attacks because they don't want to be the one to blame if the whole thing fails on their watch...something is terribly wrong with the formula.

It must be understood that those who initially set the terms of these records were not professional musicians, nor had they ever actually done such an event before.
Having organized two Longest Concerts(so far!), and broken what I thought was the world record for Ukulele (also twice) I feel like I am in a good position to bring all these stories together under a banner of mutual support an acceptance.

It does not take long, through this site, to realize that a number of people who may have believed they had the standing world record, actually don't.
That happened to me. Also to Robin Evans. I broke the knowable world record for longest Ukulele Performance in 2016, based on the Guinness record at the time(I verified with Record Setter)...then Robin broke my record (Guinness)....then I broke his. However a website that was hidden from US viewers a few years back, Singapore Records, has Dick Yip listed as 32 hours on Ukulele, more than either of my efforts, and thus longer than Robin's as well.

That was a tough blow, and maybe some record holders are reading this now unhappy with the current ranking system provided by World Records of Music.
...but I know how that feels, personally, and can therefore feel more justified in establishing this new standard of rules in these categories, knowing full well I can no longer claim the standing Ukulele record if I do so. A tough pill to swallow, but one I have to accept.

As such, let me state the we at World Records of Music have TWO primary concerns when listing a record-breaking effort:

First, that the attempt happened. That's what matters most. Not who approved it. Did it happen? The more corroborating evidence to that claim, the better. Facebook, YouTube, Media. We will always encourage efforts we work with to provide conclusive, complete recordings of their entire attempt, and to share those recordings online. 
We are not a verifying body so much as a reference for people interested in this subject matter.
We will defer all such interest to sites which back-up each claim. It is on the claimant to make the evidence convincing to the public in detail, and convincing to us, in general.

Secondly, that the effort went a minimum of 24 hours under the parameters of it's own specific category, as outlined below.
Meaning, one does not necessarily have to break the standing world record to be included on this site.
Every 24 hour effort (or more) that can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to have followed all the rules will be added to the Hall of Records on this site, ranked by total hours of performance as the records are now.
There are multiple reasons for this, the less obvious being that a number of record breakers celebrated on this page did not actually break the standing world record at the time of their attempt...but they thought they did. Like me. Like Robin. Like many others.
Another thing this allowance gives us the freedom to do is to promote multiple efforts by an individual or group, even if their first (or second, or third) tries are not acknowledged by others.

Our reason behind all of this is to gather community-minded people under the banner of live musical performance...not to withhold verification or respect from others over some small detail. (Like a "wobbly camera" or not paying surprise review fees) 

Another major consideration is that these attempts are only getting longer. Nit-picky performance rules...that, by definition, need to be checked song for song are only going to slow the spirit of events like this down in the long run.

If it costs a mint to review a 6 week effort, for instance, because one must check every 30 seconds between songs, or 2 minute length on over 10,000 songs...that starts to really tax a community that just wants to do the thing.

Many of the records featured on this website followed much more stringent guidelines than listed below...however, to include everyone here, the boundaries needed to be widened a bit, as well as to prepare for a future when the records get too long to check every minute detail.

We are sure beyond any reasonable doubt that these separate categories of record breakers followed these rules at a minimum. Though many met standards even more taxing."
- JR

LONGEST CONCERTS
-Fewer than 5 minutes between each act.
-Acts must perform consistently throughout their sets, as one would expect from any live music concert. 
-No act may repeat any performance of a song within a 4 hours time period. (Songs may be repeated by different acts)

LONGEST OPEN JAMS
-No more than 30 seconds between jams/songs.
-At least two musicians must be performing together at all times.
-A spirit of openness and inclusion must be maintained. (Established 'jam bands' excluding interested, competent guest musicians is not allowed)
-No song may be repeated within a 4 hour time period.

LONGEST PERFORMANCES OF AN INSTRUMENT
-Fewer than 30 seconds between songs. (If ever that 30 seconds is exceeded, each additional second is taken from the accrued Rest Time.)
-For every 60 minutes of performance time, the performer earns 5 minutes rest. Rest Time can be accrued and used at will by the performer. Rest time counts toward the performers total time, with all remaining rest time after the attempt ends being forfeit. (i.e. a person who plays for 24 hours straight has earned 2 hours rest. If they stop their effort at 24 hours, they cannot claim 26 hours. However, if they were to stop for ~1 hours and 55 minutes(at the 24 hour mark), and come back to play one more song just before their rest time runs out, they can claim 26 hours)
-As mentioned above, any solo (or accompanied) effort on an instrument that meets the above standard and continues for at least 24 hours will be acknowledged by World Records of Music.
-No song may be repeated within a 4 hour time period.

LONGEST BUSKS
-Performance must be outside on a street or sidewalk.
-No more than 30 seconds between songs.
-Act earns Rest Time in the same manner as marathon instrument performers do.(immediately above)
-No song may be repeated within a 4 hour time period.

LONGEST PERFORMANCES OF SONGS
-Play must be continuous. Uninterrupted.
-Any instrumentation or number of performers is acceptable.

A Piece of Advice

"Record EVERYTHING! Audio, Video! Livestream! It is your responsibility to provide irrefutable evidence to the public for viewing and confirming for themselves your claim.
Make that job easy on yourself, and on us, by putting as many cameras and other documenting efforts as possible on and into your attempt.
Be your OWN verifying agency. Then tell us what you did so that we can give you due credit in our Hall of Records!" - JR