- PLEASE NOTE – To enter you must live in New England, or have some connection to New England. If you have any questions regarding eligibility, please contact Sue Martin here.
Read the following Rules and Regulations before entering the contest:
1. Songs should consist of the contestant’s own work and should not infringe any copyrights or any other rights of any third parties. By entering the Contest, you represent and warrant that your entry is an original work and that the content does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, trademarks, contract rights or any other rights of any person or business. You further agree to indemnify and hold NESC, contest judges and screeners, and all contest sponsors, their subsidiaries, and affiliates, and their respective officers, agents, partners and employees, harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of any breach of your representations and warranties set forth above and/or if any part of the entry causes New England Songwriting Competition to be liable to another.
2. Songs may be uploaded as .mp3, .mp4 or .wav audio files. Lyrics should be entered as .pdf or .jpeg only, with no name on file. Entrants must carefully check audio files and lyric files before entry. It is the entrants responsibility to check that submitted recordings and files are playing correctly before submitting their work. If faulty non playing recordings are submitted, the entry will be marked void by the judges and there will be no refund.
3. No changes may be made to song entries or to entrants details after submission. This includes changes to song title, category, writer’s name, audio file, written lyrics and all and any other changes including the email contact address. If a change is required the entrant must contact NESC to cancel the original entry, re enter the song again with the correct details and pay another entry fee.
4. Contestants may enter as many songs in as many categories as they wish and there is no limit on the number of songs that may be entered. Contestants may also enter the same song in more than one category (a separate entry fee is required for each category entry). Entry fee is non-refundable. Judges may at their discretion occassionally move an entry to a different category, but only when it is clear that the song has a much greater chance of success in another category.
5. Songs are judged based on composition. The quality of performance, vocals and production is not a consideration (with the exception of the Singer/Songwriter category where vocals/performance are also judged). You may enter a variety of recording styles, including demos, worktapes and finished masters. We require the song to be clearly audible in the recording. This is a song contest, based on the musical elements present in the composition, not a singing contest. Songs will be evaluated based on lyrics, melody, likability, overall composition, and various other musical considerations. Songs WILL NOT be evaluated on recording quality, vocal prowess, or other similar values. We simply require that the recording clearly presents the song in its fullest light.
6. All prizes are non-transferable and will be awarded to the first name as it appears on the entry form. In the case of co-writers the fair division and distribution of prizes among writers is the responsibility of the winners. Responsibility for the fulfillment and delivery of prizes resides with the relevant partners and sponsors and the NESC shall take no part in any disputes therein arising. The New England Songwriting Competition reserves the right in its sole discretion to substitute any and all prizes with prizes of comparable value.
7. It is the entrants responsibility to provide correct contact details when entering the contest and to ensure that they can receive emails from the contest. Prizes and emails will be sent to the contact email address supplied on entry. If the contestant does not see or receive prizes or notifications or emails because they provided an incorrect email address, or because they failed to check their spam folder, or because their email account is over limit, or because they have a spam blocking system in place that requires verification from the sender, or because they failed to check their emails, or for any other reason, the NESC will bear no responsibility or liability.
8. The competition does not supply or offer individual critiques of songs entered. The constitution of judging panels is dependent on availability of judges and other factors and entrants may not request or expect specific named judges to examine their entries.
9. Entry in the New England Songwriting Competition constitutes permission to use winners’ names, likenesses, recordings, videos and voices for promotional and publicity purposes on the NESC own websites and on other third party websites and in publicity and promotional materials and press releases. This permission can be withdrawn by the entrant at any time upon written request.
10. Entrants retain full song ownership rights and all copyrights to all songs submitted. Entering the contest does not in any way affect the writers’ ownership of their songs.
11. Songs may have multiple co-writers. All co-writers’ names should be entered on the entry form.
12. The entry fee covers the processing and administration costs involved in receiving and processing each entry and preparing each entry for the judging panels. Refunds WILL NOT be issued under any circumstances
13. The judges decisions are final and binding and entrants agree by entering the contest to accept and abide by the judges decisions.
14. By participating in the contest entrants agree to be bound by these rules and by any subsequent published revisions of these rules and by the decisions of The New England Songwriting Competition which are final in all matters relating to the contest.
15. All contest winners are notified by email address or phone number. If the chosen winners do not respond to NESC’s notifications within seven (7) days, NESC reserves the right to contact runner-ups for the receipt of the prizes. Prizes must be redeemed with one year of ending date of competition.
16. Judging Process & Winners Announcements – This Contest is a talent and skill-based business event. All entries are judged based on the merit of the overall songs (lyric & melody). All entries will be first screened by multiple professional songwriters contracted by New England Songwriting Competition. Finalists will be selected from all songs entered and judges will then narrow the finalists down to the Winners. The Winners will be notified via email and all results will be posted on newenglandsongwritingcompetition.com and announced via e-newsletter and social media sites. If the chosen winners do not respond to NESC’s notifications within seven (7) days, NESC reserves the right to contact runner-ups for the receipt of prizes. Entrants who are not official Winners will not receive individual notifications but will be notified via e-newsletter.
17. Prize delivery of all prizes will be coordinated via email. If any prize is not fulfilled within 180 days of the official winner announcement, it is the responsibility of the winner to notify NESC in writing. If the winner fails to notify NESC of any outstanding prizes within 180 days, NESC can no longer guarantee prize fulfillment.