SONG CONTEST BLOG

The Singer/Songwriter Awards takes place six times a year.  When we first launched in 2005, we (uh, I…) decided to number each contest, 1 through 6, for each year.  

Stupidly, we named each of the six contests as a “Round” (e.g. The 2005 Singer/Songwriter Awards Round 1).

This created some confusion for you guys because you associated “Rounds” with multiple segments of a single event (like in boxing), right?

To clarify, each contest “Round” is an independent and complete contest.  As such, if you enter Round 1 and win, then you win.  That’s it.  You do not need to enter any further Rounds… but you are more than welcome to.

Make sense?

You might be asking yourself, “If it’s so confusing, why don’t they name the contests differently?”

Ahh… good question!

Our entire backend system (the database we use to store, display and reconcile your contest submissions), is configured to ‘understand’ Rounds.  Changing it is possible but a major undertaking.

Unfortunately, we’re stuck with Rounds.

If you would like to leave your feedback about this post, click here… and please be gentle.

Today, we launched the $5000 Cash Prize Songwriter Contest:

$5000 Cash Prize.

5 Categories.

5 Judges.

5 Winners.

$5 to enter.

Five song writers will win $1000 each for their winning song or lyric in their category.  Five finalists in each category will be hand-picked by us and presented to five judges for their selections.

Each contest participant will receive a free songwriter contest score card within thirty days of the songwriter contest deadline.

Click here for more details >>

We’re getting ready to launch a new songwriter competition.

We’re using “5” as the theme:

5 songwriting categories

5 winners in each category

5 judges

$5 submission fee

$5,000 cash prize

Of course, everybody who participates will receive a free contest score card.

What do you think?

I received this email from Aaron Hurst, after he collected on his Lyric Writing Awards prize which consisted of a co-writing and recording session with Pete and Pat Luboff:

Lior,

Thank you very much!  And I also want to thank you and We Are Listening for giving me such a great and beneficial opportunity.  I learned so much from Pat and Pete.  Not only did they help me expand on my songwriting abilities, but also helped me understand the whole songwriting collaboration process even better.  I never thought in a million years that I’d be given a chance such as this!  The demo sounds amazing and they’re pitching it to the upcoming TV show called The Voice.  That’s just beyond me!  This is definitely a dream come true.

In a world full of song sharks and companies that aren’t so honest, it’s so nice to see a group like We Are Listening that still cares about the art of making songs and about helping people like me live their dreams.  Your songwriter contests are the best around and as long as I’m eligible, you’ll be seeing me back in the lyric writer awards every round!

Thank you again, a million times over!

-Aaron-

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I received this email this morning:

Hello,

I feel that advertising a songwriter competition as free but then, after going through all the upload etc., asking for money is a bit of a low down trick.  I thought you guys were better than that?

Regards,

S

We ARE better than that.

This is not the first email of this nature that I’ve received since launching our free songwriter competition.  To be clear, the contest is absolutely free.  However, when you’re filling out your entry form, you’ll find options to also submit to our paid songwriter competitions such as The Singer/Songwriter Awards and Lyric Writer Awards.  Simply select “No” for each and “No” for the paid critique, and you will be charged NOTHING for your submission for the Free International Songwriting Competition.

These are not hidden fees or automatic opt-ins.  You have complete control of your entry form.  If you have any ideas as to how we can make this process more transparent and user-friendly, I’m all ears…

Leave a comment >>

I received this email yesterday:

Most contests are a scam.  But the reason musicians come to this conclusion is because they pay some big fee to enter a “contest” and they never hear anything back except an email telling them they didn’t win.  Kind of like what I got from your contest.  Sure it had a chart that said I got 3 stars, but why?  Can’t even get a review included with my $30?  Oh well, live and learn.

Comment on this post >>

I received this email this morning:

…I was gonna submit a song but then I realised you want $30 to review it.  Well?  I want $30 to send it.  Please send a check or money order to:

XXXX XXXXXX
40 XXXXXXXX Avenue
XXXX Cottage
XXXXXburg, XX
077XX

When I receive payment I will send you the song.

Thanks!

-M

Comment on this post >>

Anyone who enters a song contest should get feedback.

As of next month, anyone who enters our song contests will.

We’re in the final stages of launching our Song Contest Score Card, which will allow the judges to rate six elements of your song or lyric from a  scale of 1 to 5.  The Score Card will be delivered to you via email and saved in your We Are Listening account.

Whether you’re a winner, finalist, runner-up or not selected, you can be sure that at the end of each song contest that you participate in, a Score Card will be emailed to you – free of charge.

This is an example: