The UK Songwriting Contest
The UK Songwriting Contest is one of the world's longest running and most popular and successful international songwriting events. It was launched in London in 2002 in association with prestigious bodies including The BRIT Trust (of BRIT Awards fame), The BRIT Studio, The BRIT School, Music Aid, The Guild Of International Songwriters and Composers, Roland UK and top British producers and industry professionals "to discover and encourage new songwriting talent and promote the craft of songwriting". It was supported by BBC Radio since the very beginning with radio plays of song entries across the UK. Every year it becomes more international with more entries from around the world and with appearances of winners on major TV shows worldwide. In 2021 it enters its 20th successful year year and since its launch over 100,000 songs have taken part and over £1,000,000 worth of prizes have been awarded. In this event complete beginners and experienced songwriters compete together on an equal basis. It is well known in the music business as an important launching pad for new songwriting talent, and it is widely respected as one of the world's best and most popular songwriting events
WHY YOU SHOULD ENTER YOUR SONG IN THIS CONTEST
PRESTIGE
No other songwriting event in the world was formed together with such well respected and prestigious organisations. This means that contestants are watched closely by the music industry’s leading producers and publishers, and many finalists and semi-finalists are spotted and go on to enjoy music careers and deal offers. The UKSC judging panels have featured Grammy, Emmy, CMA and BRIT Award winning Gold and Platinum Album producers and artists. There are also panels of successful past UKSC winners. Visit the Judges Page on this website to see more about the distinguished professionals who choose the winners.
Many entrants receive extensive press, TV and radio coverage of their results and their songs, with royalty earning radio play for their entries. The BBC has supported the event from the beginning with many finalists and winners receiving BBC Radio coverage. BBC Radio remains a strong UKSC supporter and many entrants are featured and interviewed on BBC Radio every year. Semi Finalists, Finalists and Winners have been featured on TV nationally and internationally and a number of winners and finalists have gone on to launch careers writing for major recording artists - see below. For this reason we always recommend that Semi Finalists and Finalists should contact their local media with news of their results in the contest as this often leads to good media coverage and even more interest from people in the music industry.
PRIZES - REWARDS - ENTRY FEES
This UKSC has helpful prizes, and the lowest entry fee of all major international songwriting events and competitions. This is in line with its original launch aims and commitments. Prizes are designed to help songwriters in their careers and include record deals, publishing deals, and personal mentoring and recording with some of the world's top producers and writers. In the past our winners have been personally mentored by Double Grammy winner Kipper Eldridge in his studio, worked and recorded with well known producer and contest judge Stuart Epps in his home studio, have been signed by Simon Cowell, personally coached by hit songwriter Mark Cawley in Nashville, signed to publishing deals with major international publishers, received professional production packages with world class musicians, international copyright registration packages, songwriting courses, promotion on the music industry's "Best of UKSC" albums, music software, books, GISC memberships and much more. Everyone who enters a song receives songwriting resource memberships worth many times the entry fee and the UKSC has awarded over £1,000,000 in prizes since its launch. Everyone who enters receives a personalised UKSC Certificate for each song entered with the position reached in the contest PLUS a judges Star Rating for every song so that they can see how each song was graded by top experienced music business professionals.
OPPORTUNITIES
This contest is often described in the media as a "prestigious" because it is the only songwriting contest that has had winning writers and finalists signed by top producers such as Simon Cowell and others, and it is the only songwriting event established in association with respected bodies such as The BRIT Trust and Music Aid and others.
Many entrants have had success through the contest and have signed publishing and recording deals, have been asked to write for major artists and major TV shows, have been interviewed in the media and had their winning songs featured to millions on TV in Australia, the USA, the UK and other countries. Many have also received royalty earning radio play of their entries. None of this would have happened if these songwriters had not entered their songs in the contest. Anyone who enters this contest can have similar success and could be noticed by the many top industry professionals worldwide who follow this event very closely every year looking for new songwriting talent. Below are just a few of these success stories..
Here is a very small selection from the many past success stories...
UKSC winner Neil Fitzpatrick was featured on national TV in a special songwriting series, signed by the Justin Bieber´s publishing company, and his winning song made over $100,000 in sales.
UKSC Pop Category winner Belle Humble wrote for Paloma Faith, Alexandra Burke, Sony Cybershot, Orange Mobile, the Hilary Duff movie ‘Beauty and the Briefcase’ and the hit US TV show ‘In the Deep End’. Her releases since winning include the global Freestylers #1 ‘Cracks’ and the K-Pop hit Russian Roulette which was Top 3 on three continents. Her songs have hundreds of millions 100,000,000s of YouTube views and she recently joined the UKSC as a song contest judge.
UKSC Winner "When You Ride A Dream" was released worldwide as an Olympic Games theme by the famous producer Mel Shaw. Mel is a Gold AND Platinum album award winning producer and the Founding President of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He is one of many top music industry figures who follow this contest very closely each year looking for talent.
Leigh Haggerwood´s Christmas song entry was signed by a major TV network, had over 40 Million (40,000,000) YouTube views and was playlisted in 140,000 stores worldwide over Christmas!
Natalie Chua was signed by Simon Cowell after her UK Songwriting Contest win. She received a Platinum Disc Award for sales of over 500,000.
Christmas song "Bloody Good Xmas" was rush released when UKSC results were announced and hit #2 in the Christmas Download Charts. This song was a favourite of top producer, musical director and UKSC judge Richard Niles who desrcibed it as "bloody brilliant!".
Oz songwriter Jaron Natoli was featured and heard by millions on the prime time Today Tonight Show in Australia when he won the UKSC. Jaron's father Chris said "Thanks heaps UKSC! Thanks to your competition Jaron's getting the recognition he deserves."
Emma Fitzsimons was invited by Sting's producer and Double Grammy Award winning UKSC judge Marc "Kipper" Eldridge to his studio. She received a professional recording and production studio package and a professional music video shoot as part of her UKSC contest prizes and was tweeted about Perez Hilton and Calvin Harris! Her YouTube video had over one million views.
Finalist songwriter Sally James from the UK was interviewed about her success in the contest on national prime time BBC TELEVISION and had her finalist song played to millions of television viewers.
UKSC Pop Category winning track "I've Already Won", by US songwriter Debra Gussin, was featured in the NBC Network Prime Time TV Drama "The Event" after its success in the contest.
"Sempre Vicino" was the Open Category Winner in the very first UK Songwriting Contest held back in 2002. After it won a stunning cover version of this song was released in Canada by the well known classical crossover group "The Canadian Tenors".
Australian winner Alison Hams appeared live on Australian National Television on the popular show "Good Morning Australia" and performed her UK Songwriting Contest winning song "Second Fiddle" to millions of prime time TV viewers when the contest results were announced.
Pop Winner Ken Brown teamed up with Elton John's producer and UKSC contest judge Stuart Epps who worked with him to produce a remix of his winning song "What Love Is". Stuart Epps was so impressed with this song when he heard it in his official capacity as a judge in the contest that he immediately contacted the writer after the results were published to collaborate on a new version.
Rock Category winning song "Danger Deep Water" by Jason Flinter was chosen to open and launch LABEL EXPO, the International Awards Show in Brussels. Jason was also asked to write more music for the Capetown, Mexico and Chicago LBEL EXPO shows. "All thanks to the UKSC" says Jason.
Katie Kittermaster was signed to a world wide publishing deal with BMG and her winning song was nominated for, and won, The Commonwealth Song Contest representing the UK. Soon after her UKSC win she was touring nationwide with BoyzLife: She is now headlining concerts and is a UKSC judge.
That was just a very small selection of stories - we have many many more!
If any past entrants have stories to tell us please contact us and let us know.
JUDGES
The UKSC judges are top Grammy, Emmy, CMA and BRIT Award winning Gold and Platinum Album producers and artists. They include Sting's producer and musical director Kipper Eldridge, top UK producer Stuart Epps (well known for his work with Elton John, Robbie Williams, Led Zeppelin, Bill Wyman, Paul Weller, George Harrison, Oasis), BRIT Award winning producer, songwriter and top musical director Simon Ellis (S Club 7, Britney Spears), CMA Award winning international country star and songwriter Lucie Diamond; producer, musical director and arranger Richard Niles (Paul McCartney, Kylie Minogue, Boy Zone, Mariah Carey, Take That, Cliff Richard) and the UKSC's own past winner Natalie Chua (signed by Simon Cowell after the contest and a Platinum Album recipient). Judging panels also include industry executives, publishers, managers, music organisations, experienced songwriters, past UKSC winners, UKSC directors, broadcasters, music journalists, authors and others from the UK and international music industry.
Read more about the judges here
Aims and Mission
The UK Songwriting Contest was originally launched with The BRIT Trust to encourage and promote the art of songwriting and to discover and showcase new talent and new songs. For this reason the entry fee has not been increased since the launch in 2002 and contest has one of the lowest entry fees of all the world's major songwriting event. Every songwriter who enters, whether they are experienced or a complete beginner, has the same chance to be discovered and noticed and to have their work judged by top names in the music industry.
Read More: Success Stories : The Story So Far : Judges : Prizes : Results By Year
PRESTIGE
No other songwriting event in the world was formed together with such well respected and prestigious organisations. This means that contestants are watched closely by the music industry’s leading producers and publishers, and many finalists and semi-finalists are spotted and go on to enjoy music careers and deal offers. The UKSC judging panels have featured Grammy, Emmy, CMA and BRIT Award winning Gold and Platinum Album producers and artists. There are also panels of successful past UKSC winners. Visit the Judges Page on this website to see more about the distinguished professionals who choose the winners.
Many entrants receive extensive press, TV and radio coverage of their results and their songs, with royalty earning radio play for their entries. The BBC has supported the event from the beginning with many finalists and winners receiving BBC Radio coverage. BBC Radio remains a strong UKSC supporter and many entrants are featured and interviewed on BBC Radio every year. Semi Finalists, Finalists and Winners have been featured on TV nationally and internationally and a number of winners and finalists have gone on to launch careers writing for major recording artists - see below. For this reason we always recommend that Semi Finalists and Finalists should contact their local media with news of their results in the contest as this often leads to good media coverage and even more interest from people in the music industry.
PRIZES - REWARDS - ENTRY FEES
This UKSC has helpful prizes, and the lowest entry fee of all major international songwriting events and competitions. This is in line with its original launch aims and commitments. Prizes are designed to help songwriters in their careers and include record deals, publishing deals, and personal mentoring and recording with some of the world's top producers and writers. In the past our winners have been personally mentored by Double Grammy winner Kipper Eldridge in his studio, worked and recorded with well known producer and contest judge Stuart Epps in his home studio, have been signed by Simon Cowell, personally coached by hit songwriter Mark Cawley in Nashville, signed to publishing deals with major international publishers, received professional production packages with world class musicians, international copyright registration packages, songwriting courses, promotion on the music industry's "Best of UKSC" albums, music software, books, GISC memberships and much more. Everyone who enters a song receives songwriting resource memberships worth many times the entry fee and the UKSC has awarded over £1,000,000 in prizes since its launch. Everyone who enters receives a personalised UKSC Certificate for each song entered with the position reached in the contest PLUS a judges Star Rating for every song so that they can see how each song was graded by top experienced music business professionals.
OPPORTUNITIES
This contest is often described in the media as a "prestigious" because it is the only songwriting contest that has had winning writers and finalists signed by top producers such as Simon Cowell and others, and it is the only songwriting event established in association with respected bodies such as The BRIT Trust and Music Aid and others.
Many entrants have had success through the contest and have signed publishing and recording deals, have been asked to write for major artists and major TV shows, have been interviewed in the media and had their winning songs featured to millions on TV in Australia, the USA, the UK and other countries. Many have also received royalty earning radio play of their entries. None of this would have happened if these songwriters had not entered their songs in the contest. Anyone who enters this contest can have similar success and could be noticed by the many top industry professionals worldwide who follow this event very closely every year looking for new songwriting talent. Below are just a few of these success stories..
Here is a very small selection from the many past success stories...
UKSC winner Neil Fitzpatrick was featured on national TV in a special songwriting series, signed by the Justin Bieber´s publishing company, and his winning song made over $100,000 in sales.
UKSC Pop Category winner Belle Humble wrote for Paloma Faith, Alexandra Burke, Sony Cybershot, Orange Mobile, the Hilary Duff movie ‘Beauty and the Briefcase’ and the hit US TV show ‘In the Deep End’. Her releases since winning include the global Freestylers #1 ‘Cracks’ and the K-Pop hit Russian Roulette which was Top 3 on three continents. Her songs have hundreds of millions 100,000,000s of YouTube views and she recently joined the UKSC as a song contest judge.
UKSC Winner "When You Ride A Dream" was released worldwide as an Olympic Games theme by the famous producer Mel Shaw. Mel is a Gold AND Platinum album award winning producer and the Founding President of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He is one of many top music industry figures who follow this contest very closely each year looking for talent.
Leigh Haggerwood´s Christmas song entry was signed by a major TV network, had over 40 Million (40,000,000) YouTube views and was playlisted in 140,000 stores worldwide over Christmas!
Natalie Chua was signed by Simon Cowell after her UK Songwriting Contest win. She received a Platinum Disc Award for sales of over 500,000.
Christmas song "Bloody Good Xmas" was rush released when UKSC results were announced and hit #2 in the Christmas Download Charts. This song was a favourite of top producer, musical director and UKSC judge Richard Niles who desrcibed it as "bloody brilliant!".
Oz songwriter Jaron Natoli was featured and heard by millions on the prime time Today Tonight Show in Australia when he won the UKSC. Jaron's father Chris said "Thanks heaps UKSC! Thanks to your competition Jaron's getting the recognition he deserves."
Emma Fitzsimons was invited by Sting's producer and Double Grammy Award winning UKSC judge Marc "Kipper" Eldridge to his studio. She received a professional recording and production studio package and a professional music video shoot as part of her UKSC contest prizes and was tweeted about Perez Hilton and Calvin Harris! Her YouTube video had over one million views.
Finalist songwriter Sally James from the UK was interviewed about her success in the contest on national prime time BBC TELEVISION and had her finalist song played to millions of television viewers.
UKSC Pop Category winning track "I've Already Won", by US songwriter Debra Gussin, was featured in the NBC Network Prime Time TV Drama "The Event" after its success in the contest.
"Sempre Vicino" was the Open Category Winner in the very first UK Songwriting Contest held back in 2002. After it won a stunning cover version of this song was released in Canada by the well known classical crossover group "The Canadian Tenors".
Australian winner Alison Hams appeared live on Australian National Television on the popular show "Good Morning Australia" and performed her UK Songwriting Contest winning song "Second Fiddle" to millions of prime time TV viewers when the contest results were announced.
Pop Winner Ken Brown teamed up with Elton John's producer and UKSC contest judge Stuart Epps who worked with him to produce a remix of his winning song "What Love Is". Stuart Epps was so impressed with this song when he heard it in his official capacity as a judge in the contest that he immediately contacted the writer after the results were published to collaborate on a new version.
Rock Category winning song "Danger Deep Water" by Jason Flinter was chosen to open and launch LABEL EXPO, the International Awards Show in Brussels. Jason was also asked to write more music for the Capetown, Mexico and Chicago LBEL EXPO shows. "All thanks to the UKSC" says Jason.
Katie Kittermaster was signed to a world wide publishing deal with BMG and her winning song was nominated for, and won, The Commonwealth Song Contest representing the UK. Soon after her UKSC win she was touring nationwide with BoyzLife: She is now headlining concerts and is a UKSC judge.
That was just a very small selection of stories - we have many many more!
If any past entrants have stories to tell us please contact us and let us know.
JUDGES
The UKSC judges are top Grammy, Emmy, CMA and BRIT Award winning Gold and Platinum Album producers and artists. They include Sting's producer and musical director Kipper Eldridge, top UK producer Stuart Epps (well known for his work with Elton John, Robbie Williams, Led Zeppelin, Bill Wyman, Paul Weller, George Harrison, Oasis), BRIT Award winning producer, songwriter and top musical director Simon Ellis (S Club 7, Britney Spears), CMA Award winning international country star and songwriter Lucie Diamond; producer, musical director and arranger Richard Niles (Paul McCartney, Kylie Minogue, Boy Zone, Mariah Carey, Take That, Cliff Richard) and the UKSC's own past winner Natalie Chua (signed by Simon Cowell after the contest and a Platinum Album recipient). Judging panels also include industry executives, publishers, managers, music organisations, experienced songwriters, past UKSC winners, UKSC directors, broadcasters, music journalists, authors and others from the UK and international music industry.
Read more about the judges here
Aims and Mission
The UK Songwriting Contest was originally launched with The BRIT Trust to encourage and promote the art of songwriting and to discover and showcase new talent and new songs. For this reason the entry fee has not been increased since the launch in 2002 and contest has one of the lowest entry fees of all the world's major songwriting event. Every songwriter who enters, whether they are experienced or a complete beginner, has the same chance to be discovered and noticed and to have their work judged by top names in the music industry.
Read More: Success Stories : The Story So Far : Judges : Prizes : Results By Year
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