UKSC AWARD WINNING SONGWRITER TO APPEAR IN NEW TV SHOW

UKSC Winner Neil Fitzpatrick will be featured in Radio 1 DJ Mike Read's new TV series about songwriters called Tin Pan Alley. Neil won the Adult Contemporary category with his song Apart in 2014 and his house was recently turned into a TV studio when Mike Read and his camera crew arrived over the weekend and filmed for the new TV series. On the same day he found out about the TV show Neil also received an email saying that a video of the song would be played at South by South West, one of the biggest music event in the USA attended by over 400,000 people.

Hear the track and see the music video of the song, performed by singer Michelle Lawson, on YouTube at https://youtu.be/XsXWKCvS8SY

Neil's UKSC winning song has now sold more than £26,500 worth of downloads and CDs and all of that money has been donated to Cancer Research UK - a charity close to Neil's heart. He said: "Obviously this is all wonderful news and it will mean exposure to a much larger audience, which I'm hoping will result in more sales and more money for cancer research". 'Apart' is available to buy as a CD or download at www.apartsong.co.uk and also on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and Google Play. ALL proceeds go to Cancer Research UK.

Neil and his song were also featured in the 2014 UKSC Award Winners video Show on YouTube at https://youtu.be/yOPcVRzlGRQ

The UK Songwriting Contest is now open for entries from all songwriters from any country. Visit The official contest website at www.songwritingcontest.co.uk  If you have already entered the contest this year don't forget that entry status updates are live online as results come back from the judges. Visit the contest website and click on Entry Status to see how your song is performing in the event.

SONG ENTRY STATUS NOW LIVE ONLINE

The first batch of live status updates for UKSC 2016 song entries has just been published. If you have already entered a song in this year's event you can check now online to see if your song is a confirmed Semi Finalist. Full details are at http://www.songwritingcontest.co.uk/entry-status.html

If your song is a Semi Finalist we recommend that you use this to get local media coverage. Every year many entrants receive extensive local radio and press coverage for their semi finalist positions in the event. The BBC are also very strong supporters and many have received BBC Radio play for their entries. Check out our Facebook Page and scroll down to last year's News Posts to see some of this coverage. Visit at https://www.facebook.com/uksongwritingcontest  We will also have a section on the contest website soon about news coverage with tips on how to achieve this. Also visit the Facebook UKSC Community Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/uksongwritingcontest to join in the discussions with other songwriters.

Please note that all songs marked in the status update as Decision Pending, songs that did not move on to the semi finals, will still be considered for Commended Entry Awards. 

We are also regularly awarding copyright registrations, books by contest judges, headphones, microphones etc to entrants picked at random each week - anyone who enters could be chosen.

Visit the UKSC website at http://www.songwritingcontest.co.uk or click on the logo above.

Best wishes,
The UKSC Team
www.songwritingcontest.co.uk

Dear Songwriter,

The 2016 UK Songwriting Contest is now open for entries from songwriters from every country. This is an opportunity to showcase your work to the music industry in London, UK, and to have your songs examined and marked by expert judges. Entry forms are at the official contest website at http://songwritingcontest.co.uk

Everyone who enters this highly acclaimed and respected international contest, formed in association with The BRIT Trust (of BRIT Awards fame), is told the judges score for each song and everyone gets the official UKSC Certificate with details of their achievements and placements for each song entered. There are also valuable guaranteed gifts and prizes worth many times the entry fee for everyone who enters including song pitching opportunities and songwriting courses. In the words of the UK's Channel 4 Television: "The UK Songwriting Contest does what it says on the tin! This is a real chance for new songwriters to break into the music business".

MAIN PRIZES
We are excited to introduce some great new prizes in 2016. There are guitars and keyboards from Fender, Hofner, Yamaha, Gibson and others, keyboard controllers, song writing software, the Mozart Awards, Sennheiser headphones, Shure and Behringer microphones, must-read books by well known UKSC judges, international copyright registrations, music organisation memberships, professional websites and much more. Full details of all the prizes are on the contest website at http://songwritingcontest.co.uk

MENTORING PRIZES
Two top number-one-hit writing songwriters (and UKSC judges!) Mark Cawley and Shelly Peiken have agreed to give personal one-on-one mentoring to lucky winners this year. Mark has worked with and written for some of the biggest names in the business including The Spice Girls, Tina Turner, Chaka Khan, Diana Ross, Joe Cocker, Wynonna Judd, Kathy Mattea, Will Downing, Tom Scot and Burt Bacharach. Shelly is a Multi-Platinum Album, Grammy nominated hit songwriter who is well known for her number one hits "What a Girl Wants" and "Come On Over Baby" with Christina Aguilera. She has also had songs recorded by Meat Loaf, Miley Cyrus, Ronan Keating, Meredith Brooks, Backstreet Boys, Cher, Gladys Knight, Gloria Gaynor, Jessie J, Ed Sheeran and many others. These people really know songwriting inside out, and this is a unique once-in a-lifetime opportunity to get personal advice from two of the best in the business. 

REGULAR PRIZE DRAWS
As well as the main prizes for winners there are also regular weekly and monthly prize draws throughout the contest. Everyone who submits a song automatically takes part in these draws and everyone has an equal chance of being selected to win one of the great prizes on offer. These prizes are announced every week and these writers will also have their work promoted on social media. See the official contest website or our Facebook Page for full details.

THE JUDGES
The UKSC has been lucky to have some of the most outstanding Grammy, Emmy, Oscar, CMA and BRIT Award winning Platinum Album judges in the world on it's panels including the Oscar winning film composer Jamie Serafi, Sting's producer and Grammy and Emmy winner Kipper Eldridge, legendary british producer Stuart Epps (Elton John, Robbie Williams, Oasis), top producer, arranger and author Dr Richard Niles (Paul McCartney, Kylie Minogue, Take That, Mariah Carey), CMA Award winning country star Lucie Diamond, chart topping Nashville songwriter Mark Cawley, top BRIT Award winning songwriter (and Britney Spears' musical director) Simon Ellis, UKSC winner and Platinum Album artist Natalie Chua (signed by Simon Cowell after winning the UKSC) and the hugely successful Multi-Platinum Album, Grammy nominated hit songwriter and author Shelly Peiken.

SONG CATEGORIES
The entry categories this year are: Pop, Lyrics Only, Singer/Songwriter, Rock, Adult Contemporary, Love Songs, Acoustic & Folk, Under 18s, Music Videos, Jazz & Blues, Country, Christian/Faith, R&B/HipHop/Rap, Instrumental, Open/Other Category, Electronic/Dance/Ambient, Christmas Songs and Under 18s. There are also three new categories this year: World Music, Retro and Indie. Full details and descriptions of the song categories are on the contest website at http://songwritingcontest.co.uk

HOW TO ENTER
Visit the official contest website at http://songwritingcontest.co.uk for the entry forms. Use these simple forms to enter your song in a few easy clicks. All songwriters from any country may enter.

We wish you every success in this year's event and in your future songwriting.

Best wishes,
UK Songwriting Contest
http://songwritingcontest.co.uk