SONG CONTEST BLOG

The Singer/Songwriter Awards from We Are Listening is a prestigious international songwriting contest that takes place six times a year and attracts songwriters and performing artists from across the globe.  The songwriting contest boasts a music industry panel  of the highest caliber and offers a range of songwriting, recording and marketing related prizes for unsigned and professional artists.  For lyricists, We Are Listening has developed a lyrics-only songwriting contest called the Lyric Writer Awards, the first independent songwriting contest to offer a co-writing and publishing deal, and takes place four times a year.  Songwriters that write in any language other than English have also been catered to with a world music song contest called the World of Music Awards, a songwriting contest for foreign-language and instrumental composers that reflects the rich variety of music and culture from every corner of the world.

Founded in 2004, We Are Listening provides aspiring and established artists with relevant music industry opportunities and artist development services.  In addition to its songwriting contest initiatives, We Are Listening caters to fledgling songwriters with a unique approach to music education through professional feedback and on-going evaluations.  Armed with a 37-strong panel of the music industry elite, We Are Listening is quickly becoming one of the leading independent music companies in the new music economy.

We Are Listening currently accepts entries for three international song contests: The Singer/Songwriter Awards, Lyric Writer Awards, and World of Music Awards. 

The Singer/Songwriter Awards is a song contest for songwriters writing original material with English-language lyrics in any genre.  The songs may be the product of more than one songwriter and winners have a choice of six song contest prizes, including a trip to London to record the winning song.  Participants are not required to be the performing artist on the recorded submission. 

The Lyric Writer Awards is an English-language, lyrics-only song contest in any genre.  The lyrics may be the product of more than one lyricist and winners enjoy professional publishing opportunities in the US market. 

The World of Music Awards is a world music genre song contest.  The songs are not required to contain words and, those that do, may be recorded and submitted in any language.  All entries may be the product of a songwriting team and, like The Singer/Songwriter Awards song contest, participants are not required to be the performing artist on the recorded submission.  Winners receive a fully-financed trip to world music festival, WOMEX, accompanied by one of We Are Listening’s music industry veterans.

We Are Listening also provides songwriters and performing artists with an assessment service as well as a special performance-oriented contest called Breaking the Band.  All of this and more on We Are Listening’s music contest page.

We Are Listening is delighted to announce the successful completion of its first-ever World Music contest, the World of Music Awards. The winning entry was submitted by Ghalia Benali, a native of Tunisia currently residing in Brussels. Growing up in Tunisia, Ghalia was raised with a strong background in Arabic music and poetry, as well as external influences including French chansons Egyptian and Indian musicals, melodies from Syria and Iraq and the ‘tartil’, the sung lectures from the Koran.

Throughout her carer, Ghalia has performed with a variety of talented World Music artists including Shahnez (Arabo-Flamenco), Yoda (Ethnic), Alpalna (Arabo-Indian), Maak’s Spirit (Jazz), Hh Kaly (Electro, Arabo, Indian), Timnaa (Arabo, Spanish, Folk), and many more. Ghalia is currently touring with her most recent project “Romeo en Leila”, a musical spectacle where Arab music meets traditional western music and jazz. Besides a successful careet as a singer, Ghalia also performs as an actress and played the role of Meriem in “La Saison des hommes” in 1999, under the direction of Tunisian producer Mouffida Tiatli and danced in the film “Swing” from Tony Gatliff in 2001.

As the winner of the World of Music Awards, Ghalia will join World music expert, Dubi Lenz, and a host of other WOMEX delegates in Sevilla, Spain, for a weekend of networking, music promotion and career development. She and the nine other finalists will also receive a free one year subscription to Songlines, the leading World music publication. We Are Listening is proud to welcome Ghalia Benali to the team and looks forward to helping her achieve all of her musical dreams and aspirations.

For the first time, We Are Listening has formed an expert panel of judges specializing in World music for the one and only music contest dedicated to this genre.

The World of Music Awards is your exclusive opportunity to get your music in front of music industry professionals for a chance to win an all-inclusive trip to WOMEX, the largest and most important World music fair of its kind.

The contest winner will join World music expert, Dubi Lenz, and a host of other WOMEX delegates in Sevilla, Spain, for a weekend of networking, music promotion and career development.

Additionally, Songlines, the leading World music publication, will provide the winner and nine finalists with a free, one year subscription to its magazine ($60 value!).

Now is the time to take part in the most culturally diverse, multi-lingual music event in the world!