Enter Now! (Requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader which may be downloaded free on the Internet.)
For online submissions please go to
broadjam.com.
In its ninth year, the NSAI/CMT Song Contest boasts new, exciting prizes designed to help amateur songwriters on their road to becoming a professional songwriter.
Just a few of the prizes up for grabs this year include:
- A single-song contract from a major Music Row publisher
- One hour (each) mentoring session with Kenny Alphin (Big Kenny) and Regie Hamm
- A three-day trip to Nashville (includes airfare and hotel accommodations)
- A demo of your song by professional producers and musicians at Parlor Studio on Music Row
- A private tour of the CMT studios
- Prizes from Gibson, SHURE, MasterWriter, Elixir Strings, CMT and more
These prizes are specifically designed to help six amateur songwriters' enhance their careers.
In fact the Top 6 winning songwriters will each win a single-song publishing contract from a major Music Row publisher. Cal IV Entertainment, Curb Music, Hearts Bluff Music, Melrose Entertainment, Montage Music Group and Skyline Music Publishing will each offer single-song contracts to NSAI/CMT Song Contest winners.
"By offering the Top 6 winning songs single-song contracts with a major publisher, we create an opportunity for the aspiring songwriter to build relationships with top-notch songwriters, publishers and music industry executives that would normally take years to establish," says Bart Herbison, executive director of NSAI.
The popular CMT Listeners' Choice Award is also back for a third year. Beginning Jan. 20, 2009, the Top 15 finalists in the 9th Annual NSAI/ CMT Song Contest will be posted at nsai.cmt.com. Music fans can go to the site through Feb. 28, 2009, listen to the finalists' demos and vote for their favorite song. The song with the most audience votes will be the CMT Listeners' Choice Award winner. In its first year, the contest received over 106,000 votes.
Prizes are awarded to one (1) Grand Prize Winner, one (1) CMT Listeners' Choice Winner, four (4) Finalists, ten (10) runners-up and forty (40) honorable mentions. The contest is open to all genres of music. All songs entered receive a judging report. Music industry executives, professional songwriters and NSAI board members judge songs based on lyrics, melody and composition. Performance and production will not be evaluated.
The entry cost $35 per song for NSAI members and $45 per song for all non-NSAI members.
Songwriters may enter as many songs as they like.
All entries must be postmarked by the FINAL CONTEST DEADLINE: Nov. 30, 2008. Although the contest is sponsored by CMT, ALL GENRES OF MUSIC ARE ACCEPTED AND ENCOURAGED.
The 9th Annual NSAI Song Contest is presented by CMT and sponsored by the following organizations: Cal IV Entertainment, Curb Music, Hearts Bluff Music, Melrose Entertainment, Montage Music Group and Skyline Music Publishing. Also the Americana Music Association,
American Songwriter, ASCAP, the Bluebird Café, Broadjam, BMI, Digidesign, DiscMakers, Elixir Strings, G7th Ltd., Gibson Guitar, Guitar Center, JACK-fm, WRLT Lightning 100, Masterwriter, Music City Unsigned,
Music Connection magazine,
Nashville Scene, Parlor Productions, PikCARD, SESAC, SHURE Microphones and 95.5 The Wolf.
All proceeds from the 9th Annual NSAI/CMT Song Contest will benefit NSAI's legislative efforts to protect the rights of songwriters. NSAI is the world's largest not-for-profit songwriters' trade organization.
Enter Now! (Requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader which may be downloaded free on the Internet.)
For online submissions please go to
broadjam.com.
Sponsors of the 9th Annual NSAI/CMT Song Contest:
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The Americana Music Association is a professional trade organization whose mission is to provide a forum for the advocacy of Americana music and to promote public awareness of the genre to support the creative and economic viability of professionals in this field. www.AmericanaMusic.org |
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Covering every aspect of the craft and business of songwriting. www.americansongwriter.com |
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ASCAP is a membership association of over 240,000 U.S. composers, songwriters, lyricists and music publishers of every kind of music as well as hundreds of thousands of music creators worldwide. ASCAP is the only U.S. performing rights organization with a Board of Directors elected by and from the membership. www.ascap.com |
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A Nashville institution. Over 2,500 songwriters play this world famous music room each year. An intimate venue for audiences to see and hear the music up close. www.bluebirdcafe.com |
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Performing rights organization BMI represents more than 300,000 songwriters and publishers in all genres of music through its repertoire of approximately 4.5 million musical works from around the world. www.bmi.com |
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Broadjam is an international Web community for musicians and their friends. It's a place to discuss music, collaborate with other artists and submit songs for exciting professional opportunities. www.broadjam.com |
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Defining the art of digital audio - sound creation and production around the world is powered by Digidesigns. www.digidesign.com |
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Offering complete CD packages and duplicators for independent artists and record labels. State-of-the art facilities for everything from graphics to post production. 1-866-409-7201. www.discmakers.com |
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Guitar strings coated in a micro-thin polymer for protection from contaminants that dampen vibration and accelerate corrosion. Elixir Strings sound and feel their best three to five times longer than ordinary strings. www.elixirstrings.com |
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The G7th Performance Capo is a completely new approach to capo design. Using a patented wrap-spring clutch mechanism, it has none of the disadvantages of conventional guitar capos, but instead offers enhanced performance and is simple to use. Not only that, it looks and feels great! www.g7th.com |
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The officialgGuitar of the Nashville Songwriters Association. www.gibson.com |
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With clear-cut goals and good old fashioned customer service that caters to the musician's every need, Guitar Center still proves more than ever to be a strong link between musicians and the tools of the trade. www.guitarcenter.com |
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96.3 JACK-fm - Playing What We Want. No news, traffic, weather, contests or silly DJs. Just a bunch of songs in a row. Crazy huh? www.963jackfm.com |
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Designed by songwriters for songwriters, MasterWriter is the most powerful collection of tools ever assembled in one program for the modern songwriter. www.masterwriter.com |
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Music City Unsigned, a monthly podcast and videocast series, provides a fresh platform for Nashville's independent artist community to share their music. Visit MusicCityUnsigned.com to see and hear episodes or submit material. www.musiccityunsigned.com |
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Published every other Thursday since 1977, Music Connection magazine is a bi-weekly music trade publication catering to the music industry, its loyal fans and support services. www.musicconnection.com |
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Nashville's weekly newspaper covering art, entertainment, music, politics, clubs, events, movies and just about everything else. Get a life in the Nashville Scene. www.nashvillescene.com |
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The PikCARD is the size of a standard credit card and contains four medium guitar picks. The patented PikCARD is the perfect band merchandise or promotional item. PikCARD... emergency guitar picks for your wallet. www.pikcard.com |
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The Parlor Studio is a world class, Grammy Award Winning, Nashville recording studio owned by musician/songwriters who are dedicated to helping new and established music recording artists create the best possible record. www.parlorproductions.com |
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SESAC is a performing rights organization with headquarters in Nashville and offices in New York, Los Angeles and London. www.sesac.com |
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SHURE has been dedicated to helping you tell the truth with notes, words and sounds since 1925. www.shure.com |
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WRLT Lightning 100 - Nashville's Progressive Radio. www.WRLT.com |
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95. 5 FM The Wolf - forever changing the sound of Nashville Country radio. www.wsmfm.com |
Single-Song Publishing Contract Sponsors: Cal IV Music, Curb Music, Hearts Bluff Music, Melrose Entertainment, Montage Music Group and Skyline Music Publishing