The following are a variety of Songwriting & Composition Competitions and the criteria may vary considerably so please check the sites directly for the latest information, application forms and rules of entry.  Before sending your masterpiece ensure you have:-
'Copyrighted' your original work.
Clearly labelled your cassette/disc and application with the writer's name and contact information enclosing the application form and appropriate fee.

Check the regulaions to ensure all songs and compositions entered will remain the property of the writer.  Most specify this but there are a few who claim copyright of your material so beware!

In most competitions submissions are non-returnable and by submitting songs or compositions, entrants give their permission for their work to be included in a competition CD or Lyric book, performed in public broadcast and/or for their work to be submitted to record and publishing companies.

Song For Europe
**Applications for 2003 must be in by 18 October 2002**
British Academy of Composers and Songwriters
2nd Floor
British Music House
25-27 Berners Street
London, W1P 3DB
Tel No: 020 7636 2929, Fax No: 020 7636 2212
Web Address: http://www.britishacademy.com/
This Annual Competition is open to composers/lyricists who must be a British Citizen or normally resident in the United Kingdom for three years prior to Eurovision Song Contest. A Song Entry, both music and lyrics, must be the original work of the composers/lyricists attributed to it, no longer than 3 minutes in length and entries must be accompanied by one typed copy of the lyrics on A4 paper. Only the song title may appear on this lyric sheet in order to maintain the anonymity of the writer/s.   Entrants must submit a recording of the song on cassette or CD. The recording can be made by the artist who may perform the song should it be selected although BBC Television reserves the right to substitute another performer/s. The recording should be of the highest professional quality possible. There should be no other recording on the tape other than that of the song for the competition and only the song title must appear on the cassette or CD.   All writers and publishers must agree to abide by the rules laid down by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the European Broadcasting Union.  Any pseudonyms used by songwriters must be declared at the time of entry with actual name(s) of the writer(s). If it is found that any entrant is in breach of this rule, their song will be disqualified.  Song entries must not be (a) published, (b) extensively broadcast on radio, film, video or television, or (c) commercially released as a recording before Song For Europe 2003 except as shall be determined by the BBC in connection with the contest.  It is understood that certain promotional activities such as club and dance play and distribution of pre-release white labels and promotional copies are allowable before the Song for Europe final, but no concerted or substantial radio campaign should begin before March 20th 2001. All such usage shall be with the prior consent and approval of the BBC.  The composers/ lyricists shall not without the prior written permission of BBC Television permit any arrangement, commercial recording or publication to be made of the winning entry before the Eurovision Song Contest in May 2002.
Prize(s):
Winning song represents the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Application Fee(s):
£40.00 plus VAT (£47.00) for Academy members
£60.00 plus VAT (£70.50) for non-members.

Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriting Award
Honors promising songwriters who encourage and cultivate our Great American Songbook. The award is in the amount of $5,000.00 and is presented each year to one or more recipients.

Genesis Opera Project
From Autumn 2002 creative teams will be invited to apply for the project (formerly the Genesis Prizes for Opera). New young composers who have not had their work published or performed can find details on their site of this and other composition compositions.

Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition
The University of Louisville School of Music are now taking submissions for the 2004 competition. Entries must be in by Jan 27 2003 from composers of choral, orchestral, chamber, electronic, song-cycle, dance, opera, musical theatre etc., The award will be granted for a work premiered betwee 1 Jan 1998 and 31 Dec 2002

Great American Song Contest
Created by songwriters, this annual contest sponsored by the SongwritersResourceNetwork offers opportunities to have your songs heard by qualified music professionals and advance your songwriting career. A variety of catagories are available including one for Lyrics Only. Instead of just one or two prizes, everyone who enters gets a song evaluation from professionals and there are lots of prizes in each catagory.

International Gaudeamus Music Week Composers' Competition & Interpreters Competition
Two competitions held annually for composers and performers. A jury selects compositions from submitted entry for performance during the week, the best composition from these is awarded the prize. The Interpreters competition is for performers of contemporary music who participate in the Biennial Rotterdam Music Festival. Workshops, master classes and concerts are also available throughout the festival.

Luxembourg Sinfonietta International Composition Prize
**Deadline is 15 Jan 2003**
Composers of any age or nationality may submit works for the whole ensemble. Site contains an instrument list and informtion on the competition. This competition is FREE to enter.

Masterprize International Composing Competition 2003
**Contest Deadline Dec 20 2002**
Classic FM House
7 Swallow Place
Oxford Circus
London W1B 2AG
Composers of any age and nationality are invited to submit works for symphony orchstra of between 6 & 15 minutes. The Masterprize will culminate on 30 October 2003 at London's Barbican Centre where the London Symphony Orchestra will perform the five finalist pieces and the winner announced. The winner will receive a cash prize of £30,000 and shortlisted works will benefit from multiple radio broadcasts, media coverage and distribution on CD.

National Association of Composers, USA
Annual Composers Competition, supported by ASCAP and BMI. Contest is open to NACUSA members only.

Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium
Piano 2003, Violin 2005, Singing 2004
There are several competitions which each have seperate conditions and age ranges. Each sections rules, deadlines and information are available from the site in English, French and German.

Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize
**Closing date 31 March 2003**
Open to Composers under the age of 29 who are studying, or have studied at any conservatoire or university in the UK may enter 3 compositions on one tape for admission to the competition. See site for full rules and other musical competitions that are available.

Sounz
Composer Opportunities contains listings of Composing Competitions, Courses, Residencies and Calls for Scores in New Zealand.

Toru Takemitsu International Composition Award
Run by Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation, this competition was founded by Toru Takemitsu on his principles "Prayer, Hope, Peace". Each year one judge is responsible for choosing a winner from entrants who may submit a composition for an orchestra (except concerto). Full details including instrumentation is included on the site with an application form. Admittance is free for any person regardless of nationality who is not more than 35.

Vivian Ellis Prize for New Musicals
The competition provides an opportunity for composers, lyricists and bookwriters/libretists working in Britain to benefit from the guidance and encouragement of the country's most distinguished personalities in the world of musical theatre. Each entrant will receive a short assessment of their work and a shortlist of 5 or 6 musicals will be chosen. Extracts from the finalists will be presented in front of an invited audience and the celebrity judges who will give an assessment of each finalist. In the future the site will be adding a members section for creators of musicals to find collaborators.

John Lennon Songwriting Contest
**Deadline September 28 2002**
One Haynes Avenue, Suite #801, Newark, NJ 07114, USA.  Email
Contestants must be over 18 years old for this Annual National Songwriting Competition. Completed and signed entry form (or photocopy). All signatures must be original. Audio cassette(s) containing one song only, five (5) minutes or less in length. Lyric sheet typed or printed legibly (please include English translation if applicable). Sheets not required for instrumental compositions. Each song submitted must be contestant's original work.  Songs may not exceed five (5) minutes in length. No song previously recorded and released through national distribution in any country will be eligible. Songs may have multiple co-writers, but please designate one name only on the application. Contestant may submit as many songs in as many categories as he/she wishes, but each entry requires a separate cassette, entry form, lyric sheet, and entrance fee.  One check or money order for multiple entries/categories is permitted. (Entrance fee is non-refundable. JLSC is not responsible for late, lost, damaged, misdirected, postage due, stolen, or misappropriated entries.)
Prize(s): Twelve (12) Grand Prize Winners will receive $2,000 in cash, $5,000 in Yamaha project studio equipment, and a $5,000 advance from EMI Music Publishing.
One (1) Grand Prize Winner will receive $20,000 for the "Song of the Year" courtesy of Maxell.
Thirty-six (36) Finalists will receive $1,000.
Seventy-two (72) Runners-Up will receive portable CD players.
Application Fee(s): Check or money order for $30.00 per song (U.S. currency only) payable to John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Application Due Date: Friday, August 31, 2001  Online Applications Welcome

Nivita Foundation International Song Festival
Karen O’Herlihy, Boss Murphy House, Churchtown, Mallow, Cork, Ireland.  Tel No: 022 23 890, Fax Number: 022 23 048  Email
This Annual International Songwriting Competition is open to songwriters of any nationality and age.
Prize(s): 1st Prize - £5,000, in a combination of Recording Time, Musical Instrumentation, and Money.
2nd Prize - £1,000
3rd Prize - £500
There will be a special Prize for the schools’ section and the winner will go forward to compete in the grand final.
Application Fee(s): £20 application fee

North West Songwriting Competition,
11 Kensington Court, Bolton, Lancs, BL1 4AW. United Kingdom.   Tel No: (44) 01204 527414.  Email
This Annual International Competition is open to singers of any nationality and age.
Competition Details:
NB This is a performance competition i.e. you will have to perform your song in front of the judges/audience.
Prize(s): Performance opportunity.

Saltire Society Scottish Song Competition
Kathleen Munro, Administrator, The Saltire Society, 9 Fountain Close, 22 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1TF. United Kingdom.  Tel No: 0131 556 1836, Fax Number: 0131 557 1675.   Email
This Annual International Songwriting Competition held in May is open to songwriters not older than 21 of any nationality.
Competition Details:
Established in 1999, the purpose of the awards is to encourage young composers working in Scotland to produce new works. These new works may in the future be used as test pieces for the Saltire competitions. Once sufficient new works have been gathered together, these may be published into one volume. The organization is looking for:
1. Composition Award for a two part Scottish Song in traditional style - or a new setting of a Scottish Song or poem Requirements:
· The piece should not exceed five minutes.
· It may be composed as an unaccompanied piece or as one to be accompanied by not more than four instruments.
· The setting may be for an existing piece of Scottish verse or for a new verse.

2. Gaelic Composition Award for a four parts setting of an existing verse or of a new Gaelic verse
Requirements:
· The piece should not exceed five minutes.
· The setting is to be in four parts.
· The setting may be for an existing piece of Gaelic verse or for new Gaelic verse.

The composer's name should not appear anywhere on the score. A sealed envelope containing the composer's name, address, date of birth and title of composition should accompany the score. The anonymous entries will then be passed to St Mary's Music School for adjudication by John Grundy (Director of Music), Tom Wilson (Teacher of Composition) and Neil Macgregor (Teacher of Gaelic). Prize(s): Awards in Classes 7 and 8: A certificate of recognition for the composer and the school (if appropriate). The Society will arrange, if possible, for the successful compositions to be performed at the Scottish Song Competition (either by the choir associated with the composer or by pupils of St. Mary's Music School). Online Applications Welcome

Six National Song Contest for Peace
Cecil Hurwitz Mount Carmel, 4 Whitebeam Road, Togher, Cork, Ireland
This Annual Songwriting Competition is open to composers of any age who are residents or citizens of Ireland.   Composers and songwriters are invited to submit original song (3 mins duration).
Prize(s): 1st Prize: £1000
2nd Prize: £500
Application Fee(s): £5.00

Songwriting Contest Listings at Muses Muse

USA Songwriting Competition
he deadline for submitting your songs for the 2001 event has passed. The results will be out in mid November. USA Songwriting Competition is the first songwriting competition to provide radio airplay for the winning songs as well as providing the largest Grand Prize in any annual Songwriting Competition. Gain international radio exposure and win great prizes. Music industry judging. This is an international event

Lilith Fair & ASCAP
Annual Songwriting Competition for new unsigned women songwriters. The competition page hasn't been updated but the competition runs annually. Visit the site and email for information.

Unisong Annual International Songwriting Competition
Entries to be in by November 2001, UNISONG offers Grand Prizes that are not awarded by any other songwriting competition. This year's Grand Prize winner will get an all expense paid trip to Jamaica to participate in the latest Music Bridges Around The World project in March 2002. This project features the opportunity to write with famous writers and artists from the US and various countries together with their Jamaican counterparts. The Grand Prize Winner is selected from the first place category winners. Past UNISONG Grand Prize winners have had the opportunity to write with the likes of Burt Bacharach, Peter Buck (REM), Jimmy Buffet, Gary Burr, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Stewart Copeland, Rodney Crowell, Lamont Dozier, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Frampton, Indigo Girls, Montell Jordan, Gladys Knight, Lisa Loeb, Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Joan Osborne, Lee Roy Parnell, Bonnie Raitt, Brenda Russell, Andy Summers, David and Don Was, and many others at past Music Bridges projects in Ireland, Cuba and Germany. - - - CATEGORIES - - -
POP/ADULT CONTEMPORARY
ROCK/ALTERNATIVE/BLUES
COUNTRY/FOLK
R&B/RAP/HIP-HOP
INSTRUMENTAL
GOSPEL/CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN
WORLD/REGGAE
DANCE/ELECTRONICA
LYRICS ONLY
ENVIRONMENT/HUMAN RIGHTS

FIRST PRIZE IN ALL 10 CATEGORIES $1200 USD plus One Year Subscription to SongLink International, AKG Acoustics D880 Performance Vocal Microphone, Songscope.com Song Listing and 100 special edition Unisong guitar picks from Dunlop USA. There are also prizes for 2nd and 3rd runners up in each catagory. Open to all but there is an entrance fee charged.

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