The International Songwriting Competition (ISC), [1] founded in 2002, [2] [3] is an annual songwriting contest for both amateur and professional songwriters. There is no physical event to attend as the competition is held online, and anyone in the world can enter. [4] [5] [6] Each year the competition gives away over $150,000 USD in cash and prizes, [7] [8] including $25,000 USD in cash to the overall Grand Prize Winner. [9] [10] [11] Additionally, ISC offers an opportunity for artists to have their songs heard by celebrity artists [12] [13] and music industry executives.
Depending on the category, submissions are judged on the following criteria: [14]
There are 24 categories artists can enter: [15]
Previous winners of the ISC include:
The ISC will often have celebrity judges on the panel. [37] Past and Present judges include:
Roman Maksimovich Miroshnichenko is a Ukraine-born Russian jazz fusion guitarist, composer, and record producer. He has received numerous accolades, including four The Independent Music Awards, 1st Prize of the USA Songwriting Competition, 1st Prize of the International Acoustic Music Awards, five Global Music Awards and four Hollywood Music in Media Awards nominees. He has worked with musicians such as Steve Vai, Al Di Meola, Marco Mendoza, Paul Wertico, Jennifer Batten, Heather Headley, Djivan Gasparyan, Dominique DiPiazza during his career. In 2008 - 2017 he toured regularly in a duo with fusion guitarist Larry Coryell.
Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, known professionally as Lorde, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and introspective songwriting.
"Caught in the Crowd" is a song by Australian singer songwriter Kate Miller-Heidke. It was released in February 2009 as the second single to be lifted from Miller-Heidke's second album Curiouser. It was written by Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall. The song peaked at number 33 on the ARIA Charts and was certified gold.
The discography of Kate Miller-Heidke, an Australian singer-songwriter, consists of five studio albums, four extended plays, and twenty-three singles.
Live and Unsigned is a music competition in the United Kingdom for unsigned bands and vocal groups to perform live for substantial prizes. It was founded 2007, and has attracted over 40,000 entrants annually since its inception. Competitors perform in their own genre and style to a paying audience and judging panel. The competition tours the UK holding auditions and finals in various areas and regions, and the Grand National Final is held in London The O2 in London being the last used.
Dilpreet Bhatia is an Indian singer-songwriter and technologist, born in Ludhiana in a Punjabi Sikh family. His song Tere Bin Dil, won in World Music Category of International Songwriting Competition. In September 2014, he was selected as Grand Prize winner in Season I of John Lennon Songwriting Contest in the World Music category.
The Philippine Popular Music Festival is an annual songwriting competition organized by the Philpop MusicFest Foundation and was launched in 2012. The creation of the festival was inspired by the defunct Metro Manila Popular Music Festival. The foundation itself is headed by the chairman Manny V. Pangilinan, executive director Ryan Cayabyab and administrator and communications director Patricia Bermudez-Hizon. The competition is only open to original and previously unreleased songs in English, Filipino and other Philippine languages. Since its inception, it's been airing annually in TV5.
"Royals" is the debut single by New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde, included in her debut extended play (EP) The Love Club EP (2012) and debut studio album Pure Heroine (2013). Lorde wrote the song with producer Joel Little. "Royals" is a minimalist art pop and electropop song with influences of hip hop, R&B, and indie pop. The track's lyrics express disapproval with the sumptuous lifestyle presented in songs and music videos by pop and hip hop-influenced artists.
Melodrama is the second studio album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde. It was released on 16 June 2017 by Lava and Republic Records and distributed through Universal. Following the breakthrough success of her debut album Pure Heroine (2013), Lorde retreated from the spotlight, and travelled between New Zealand and the United States. Initially inspired by her disillusionment with fame, she wrote Melodrama to capture heartbreak and solitude after her first breakup.
"Writer in the Dark" is a song recorded by New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde for her second album Melodrama (2017). She co-wrote and co-produced the track with Jack Antonoff. It is a piano ballad with sparse production and an outro. Its lyrics are Lorde's lament to an ex-lover, in which she says she will always love him but she also needs to move her life forwards. The song received acclaim from music critics, many of whom commended its songwriting. Lorde performed "Writer in the Dark" and five other songs as part of a re-imagined Vevo song series at Electric Lady Studios, and was included on the set list of her Melodrama World Tour (2017–2018).
"Crawl Outta Love" is a song by American DJ Illenium. Featuring singer Annika Wells, it is a single, released on August 7, 2017 via Seeking Blue/Kasaya Records, from his sophomore studio album Awake. It is the fourth single from the album.
Danzal James Baker, known professionally as Baker Boy, is a Yolngu rapper, dancer, artist, and actor. Baker Boy is known for performing original hip-hop songs incorporating both English and Yolŋu Matha and is one of the most prominent Aboriginal Australian rappers.
"Happier" is a song by American DJ Marshmello and British indie pop band Bastille. Written by Marshmello, Bastille frontman Dan Smith, & Steve Mac, and produced by the former, it was released by Astralwerks on August 16, 2018. It reached number two on both the UK Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100 and is the highest-charting single for Marshmello in both the UK and the US. It is also Bastille's highest-charting single as well on both charts surpassing their 2013 single "Pompeii"'s number five peak on the Hot 100 and tying at its number two peak on the UK chart. It also logged 27 weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100. The song also currently holds the record for most weeks spent at number one on the US Dance/Electronic Songs chart, with 69 weeks as of January 2020.
Faouzia Ouihya, known mononymously as Faouzia, is a Moroccan-Canadian singer-songwriter and musician best known for her track "Tears Of Gold". Born in Morocco, she moved with her family to Canada at a young age. During that time she learned how to play various instruments, and began composing her first songs. She released several singles and collaborated with many musicians on vocals and songwriting prior to releasing her debut extended play (EP), Stripped, in August 2020.
Daneliya Tuleshova is a Kazakh singer. She represented Kazakhstan in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Minsk, Belarus with her song "Ózińe sen", finishing sixth.
Toni Watson, known professionally as Tones and I, is an Australian singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her breakout single, "Dance Monkey", reached number one in over 30 countries, including Australia. In November 2019, it broke the ARIA record for the most weeks at number one on their singles chart by any artist with 16 weeks. By mid-January 2020, "Dance Monkey" had spent its 24th and final week at number one, beating Bing Crosby's all-time Australian record for his version of "White Christmas", which spent an equivalent of 22 weeks at the top in 1943. "Dance Monkey" was certified 17× platinum by ARIA for shipments of over 1,190,000 units by mid-2022.
Annika Marie Wells is an American singer-songwriter from Sleepy Hollow, Marin County, California. Since moving to LA she has worked with BTS, The Jonas Brothers, Steve Aoki, PRETTYMUCH, ILLENIUM, Grey, Shawn Wasabi, Benjamin Ingrosso and others. She is a regular collaborator of Maggie Lindemann and AJ Mitchell and has worked with Hailee Steinfeld, The Chainsmokers, Whethan, Emily Warren, Social House, Lennon Stella, Kennedi, Sabrina Carpenter, Tove Styrke, Matoma, Freddy Wexler, and Jason Evigan.
The Great American Song Contest is an international music competition run annually by Songwriters Resource Network since 2000.