(New Judges Panel, Prizes & Sponsors to be announced Spring 2021)
2020 Prizes (2021 Prizes Coming Soon)
1st Place:
- $10,000
- 2-page feature spread in the American Songwriter's January/February 2021 "Legends Issue"
- Career consultation with a reputable music publisher and record label
- Martin GPC-X2E Rosewood Guitar
- Lifetime American Songwriter Membership
2nd Place:
- $1,000
- Half page feature in Jan/Feb 2021 issue
- Martin OMC-X1E Black Guitar
- Lifetime American Songwriter Membership
3rd Place:
- Half page feature in Jan/Feb 2021 issue
- Martin LX1E Guitar
- Lifetime American Songwriter Membership
2020 Judges (2021 Judges Coming Soon)
Hear from 2020 Winners
Contest FAQ
Copy and paste a public link to your songs into the form below. Double check the validity of the link before submitting. Please submit links from our five preferred song submission platforms: (1) SoundCloud, (2) YouTube (audio or video, not to be confused with YouTube Music), (3) Spotify, (4) Songspace and (5) Songcraft.
On your browser, open up a “Private” or “Incognito” window. Paste your link into the address bar. If you can access your song without logging in or entering a password, your song will be accessible to our judges. If you cannot, you will need to adjust your privacy settings.
Yes! We do NOT claim ownership in the materials you submit in conjunction with the Song Contest.
Yes! Submissions from any country are allowed.
$25 per song
$15 per song with Early Bird Special
All songs are first screened for competitiveness; our screeners are discretionary in their listening experience to gauge overall merit and to determine if a song is worthy of Top 35 consideration.
The screening period is throughout the year, with the majority of screening taking place September through mid-November.
Our screeners’ time commitment to each song depends on its merit. American Songwriter is not liable for the accuracy of external, 3rd party platform (listed above) analytics. We can however confirm receipt of your submission and ensure that it will be screened, as defined above, during the screening process.
If you could kindly disable advertising for the song(s) you submit, that would be helpful to our screeners and judges panel, although it is not mandatory.
Our screeners and judges are looking for songs that stand out from the pack, songs that are candidates to stand the test of time. They are looking for songs of all genres of music. They are looking for uniqueness, cleverness, poeticism, commerciality, the elusive chill factor (when a song gives you chills), story songs, songs that are relatable to humanity at large, as well as songs that are intimately personal. Please see the Terms & Conditions for further details.
This is a song contest, based on lyrical and melodic values, not a singing contest. Songs will be evaluated based on lyrics, melody, 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. Please see the Terms & Conditions for further details.
2021 Deadline Coming Soon
A song contest submission does NOT include receiving feedback.
2020 Sponsors (2021 Sponsors Coming Soon)
How to Enter
Enter Your Songs by Using the Form Below
Copy and paste publicly accessible links to your songs into the form below. This is what the judges will use to listen to your songs.
Submit Payment on the Checkout Page
On the next screen, choose your payment method and complete checkout.
Enter By Submitting the Form Below. Then Checkout on Next Page.
