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Guidelines

 

You MUST read this before submitting to the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest.

1) ELIGIBILITY

  • The contest is open to songwriters who are 18 years of age or older on the date of entry submission. Any entrant who is a minor in his or her jurisdiction of legal residence will be required to obtain and submit written permission from his or her parent or legal guardian to participate in the contest. Employees of NewSong and Mountain Stage, their families, subsidiaries, and affiliates are not eligible.
  • For the purposes of the competition, a song must have both lyrics and music. All submitted songs must be original, unpublished songs that have been written or co-written by the entrant(s).* For competition purposes, an unpublished song is defined as being recorded and self-released by the entrant(s) and/or not published by a commercially active music publisher.
  • Co-writers are subject to the same eligibility criteria.
  • Past winners or co-winners of the NewSong Contest are not eligible to enter the contest. All other previous entrants are eligible.
  • Artists from anywhere in the world are welcome to enter. However, all finalists and semi-finalists selected to perform in the Award Round in late October must pay for their own own travel and lodging expenses.

2) SUBMISSION POLICY

  • Each entry must be an original, unreleased musical composition (“composition”) for which the contestant retains the copyright and authority to submit and perform the composition in the contest. Payment for each composition entered in the contest must be made at the time of submission. NewSong is not responsible and disclaims any liability for late, lost, damaged, misdirected, postage due, stolen, or misappropriated entries or for any errors in online submissions, including, but not limited to unsuccessful file uploads. Materials submitted will not be returned and NewSong reserves the right to dispose of all submitted material in any manner.
  • There is no limit to the number of songs you can submit; you may submit the same song(s) to both a regional round AND the general round, provided your residency makes you eligible to submit to a regional round.

 

HOW TO SUBMIT

 

3) NOTIFICATIONS & WAIVERS

- Winners of the regional and general rounds will be notified by email and each winner must provide the following items to be eligible to compete in the international contest finals:

(i) an affidavit confirming

(a) that the winner meets the contest eligibility requirements,
(b) that his or her composition is original and unreleased, and (c) that he or she owns the copyright in the composition;

(ii) a performance license and mechanical and synchronization licenses for audio and video recording rights; and

(iii) a publicity release (collectively, the “Affidavit”), all within 14 days of the notification date. The failure to sign and return the Affidavit within Fourteen (14) Days or the submission of false or inaccurate information will result in immediate disqualification and an alternate winner will be selected for the applicable regional or general round. Affidavits for winners under 18 years of age at the time of submission must be countersigned by a parent or legal guardian. All Affidavits are subject to verification by NewSong and its agents. Each contestant’s submission constitutes his or her permission to use his or her name, likeness, and voice for future advertising and publicity purposes without additional consideration.

- NewSong retains the right to use in perpetuity any media inclusive of ancillary rights created in conjunction with the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest including but not limited to; live recordings, video, webisodes, and photographs. Participants grant NewSong the use of this archival material in perpetuity.

4) SEMI-FINALIST SELECTION

A total of twelve (12) semi-finalists will be selected to perform in the international contest's Award Round, held this year in October in New York City.

- One from each of this year's six (6) regional rounds (see table below for info and eligibility); the winner of each regional round automatically advances as a semi-finalist in the Award Round.

- Five (5) from the general round, which is open to anyone from any geographic location. Two of the six general round spots are reserved for “Early Bird” winners, selected from entries submitted before midnight on June 15, 2010.

- One selected from the general public (not judges) through our People's Choice voting platform. The People's Choice award will be open to finalists selected in each of the NewSong Contest's six regional rounds.

ENTER DIAGRAM HERE

5) RESTRICTIONS

This contest is void where prohibited. All federal, state, and local laws, regulations, rules, and ordinances apply.

  • Entries must be self-released original songs.
  • Submissions are not subject to a time limit. But if you are selected as one of our twelves finalists, your live performance of two original songs on the finals contest stage must meet a strict ten (10) minute limit or you will be penalized.
  • The song MUST be performed by the song contest entrant. Songs that have been recorded with more than one backing musician can be submitted -- for example, sending in a cut from a CD with multiple players. But remember, should you advance and perform live, you will only be allowed one backing musician on stage. This accompanist may play an instrument(s) and/or sing backup.
  • Co-written songs may be submitted, but the person who enters the song must be the one who is the lead singer of the tune.
  • IMPORTANT POINT: Though co-writers will be acknowledged, only the performer of the tune can qualify to win a prize.

6) EXPLANATION OF RIGHTS

  • The writer(s) retains all rights to submitted songs.
  • Winner retains all publishing rights for songs recorded for winning EP, produced by Grammy-winning producer Jacquire King.
  • Winner will retain 50% master rights in perpetuity of resultant EP in partnership with NewSong Recordings. NewSong Recordings retains administration rights in perpetuity for master recording.
  • Winner agrees to make themselves available for promotion of EP.
  • NewSong reserves the right to distribute the EP digitally and physically throughout the Universe.
  • Third party acquisition of master must be by mutual consent between winner and NewSong.

7) THE AWARD ROUND

  • On stage at the live contest Award Round, a single accompanist may sing along with you, play an instrument, or both; but you, the entrant, are the sole performer being judged.
  • All finalists and semi-finalists chosen to perform in the Award Round must pay for their own travel to and from the weekend event (held in New York in late October, 2010)

  • The NewSong Contest is both a performance AND songwriting competition. As such, all semi-finalists in the Award Round will be judged equally on both performance and songwriting.

  • The format for the Award Round is as follows: each of the twelve semi-finalists will perform one original song of their choosing in front of a panel of judges and a live audience. Five finalists will then be selected from the twelve, and these five finalists will then perform an additional original song. From these five, the overall winner and 'Best Song' winner will be selected.

-------NEED MORE HELP?

Please re-read the rules again and if you remain befuddled on a point, email: contest@newsong-music.com

Good luck! Be sure to subscribe to the NewSong News e-mail newsletter for contest updates. Send an e-mail to: NewSongFestival-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com

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