The Louisville Area Songwriters Cooperative is pleased to announce Songwriting Competition '92. This will be the sixth annual songwriting contest that we have run.
Once again, we will give away a Grand Prize of $1,000. Category winners will receive $100, so that the Grand Prize winner will take home at total of $1, 00.
This year's contest will again have ten categories, as well as several agreements from publishers to listen to the finalists in various categories. Please read the rules carefully before entering.
The category list is printed in the official entry form on the right. All of the categories are self-explanatory except for the Other category. The Other category is for songs which do not fit into any of the remaining categories.
Prizes will be awarded at the Awards Banquet on November 7, 1992. There are two levels of prizes:
In each category, one winner will be selected. The winner in each category will receive a $100 prize. The ten category-winning songs will be eligible to compete for the final prize.
One song from among the ten category finalists will receive a $1000 Grand Prize.
Category finalists will be notified by October 15, 1992. Winners in each category and the winner of the Grand Prize will be announced at the Awards Banquet on Saturday, November 7, 1992. The Banquet will be held in conjunction with the Songwriting Seminar at Quality Inn, 100 E. Jefferson St., Louisville, KY 40202.
Judging will be handled in the following ways: preliminary judging will be by non-participating board members of the LASC, resulting in ten finalists in each category. These ten finalists will be given to a three-person panel of judges knowledgeable in the given category to select the winning two songs. Judges will rank by scoresheet.
The contest is open to receive entries effective August 1, 1992. All entries must be received, not just postmarked, by August 31, 1992.
Entry fee is $8 per song for LASC members; $10 tor non-members. Three songs may be entered for $20 for LASC members; $25 for non-members. Each entry must be accompanied by a check or money order made payable to LASC. Multiple entries may be paid for by one check.
Wouldn't it be handy to have some "insider" tips before you entered a contest? After all, you might as well get all the advantages you can.
Well, I think that I am as much an "insider" as it gets as far as the LASC is concerned and since I am ramrodding the contest this year, l suppose I could shed a little light on what you need to do in order to get farther.
1. After listening to hundreds of entries over the last five years, I will say this: demo quality matters and in this way: A great demo of a terrible song won't automatically win out over a terrible demo of a great song, but a great demo of a good song will do better than a terrible demo of a good song.
2. Please read the rules and follow them. This isn't grade school. We went to a lot of trouble to write them and we intend to follow them. Geez, grow up.
3. Put the song in an appropriate category. We all know that lots of songs can work in different categories, depending on the arrangement, but use your head: MOR/Pop songs seldom cut it in the Bluegrass category.
4. Other means other. This category is not the dump. Enter songs that don't fit in the other categories, i. e., Latin, rap, Afro-pop, reggae, etc.
Watch this space tor more comments during the next two months.