The Pop Category
This category is for chart style top 40 popular music. It could also include some slower pop ballads, as well as more obvious up-tempo pop songs. This is the most commercial of all the categories and is for songs with mass (often younger) audience appeal. Our judges and producers have excellent contacts in the Pop industry who are always looking for new songs. UKSC judge and BRIT Award winning songwriter and producer Simon Ellis, for example, is known for his work as Britney Spears' Musical Director, songwriter and contest judge Mark Cawley has written for The Spice Girls and also had a number one UK hit with Billie Piper, and our other judges have worked with some of the biggest names in music. Kipper Eldridge (Sting's producer and a Grammy and Emmy winner) has his own record company in London, and Richard Niles has recently moved back to Hollywood and is looking for new talent to work with.
Winners
Many past winners of this category have been offered publishing deals and have written for major artists, have appeared on major prime time TV shows and have gone on to work with some of the word's top producers. Pop Category winner Belle Humble for example went on to write for Paloma Faith and Alexandra Burke, Sony Cybershot, Orange Mobile, the Hilary Duff movie ‘Beauty and the Briefcase’ and the hit US TV show ‘In the Deep End’ after her success in the contest. Her other releases include the Freestylers hit ‘Cracks’ which topped charts globally and her songs now have well over 30,000,000 (yes - over Thirty Million!!) YouTube views. UKSC Pop Winner Ken Brown teamed up with Elton John and Oasis producer Stuart Epps for a new version of his winning pop entry. 2013 winner Jaron Natoli was surpised to be contacted by major networks immediately after results were announced and swithin days he was seen by millions on prime time TV on the popular Today Tonight Show. And last year's Pop winner Alysha Brilla was recently nominated for a Juno Award. See below for some examples of a few of the winning songs from past contests:
Finalists, Semi Finalists, Commended Entries...
There are also many Finalist, Semi Finalist and Commended Entry winners in this category - see the Prizes Page for full details of prizes - and everyone will have their songs heard and examined and rated by industry professionals. Every writer who makes the finals will receive International Copyright Registrations at SongCopyright.org courtesy of the UKSC. Everyone who enters will receive valuable and useful song pitching opportunities and songwriting courses with SongU and also free Broadjam memberships which together are worth US$100. Plus every songwriter is given the judges score for each song and also receives a UKSC Certificate for every song entered with details of the writer's achievement and position. This competition gives a genuine chance to all songwriters to be noticed and discovered by the music industry in London and to have their songs judged and scored by industry professionals. Many entrants who didn't win a category have been noticed and promoted through the contest and have received royalty earning radio play for their entries and many more have been featured in the press, in radio interviews and on prime time television. Many entrants in this contest have been published, or have been signed or produced, by top industry figures who closely follow this event looking for new talent.
Some Past Pop Winners...
Many past winners of this category have been offered publishing deals and have written for major artists, have appeared on major prime time TV shows and have gone on to work with some of the word's top producers. Pop Category winner Belle Humble for example went on to write for Paloma Faith and Alexandra Burke, Sony Cybershot, Orange Mobile, the Hilary Duff movie ‘Beauty and the Briefcase’ and the hit US TV show ‘In the Deep End’ after her success in the contest. Her other releases include the Freestylers hit ‘Cracks’ which topped charts globally and her songs now have well over 30,000,000 (yes - over Thirty Million!!) YouTube views. UKSC Pop Winner Ken Brown teamed up with Elton John and Oasis producer Stuart Epps for a new version of his winning pop entry. 2013 winner Jaron Natoli was surpised to be contacted by major networks immediately after results were announced and swithin days he was seen by millions on prime time TV on the popular Today Tonight Show. And last year's Pop winner Alysha Brilla was recently nominated for a Juno Award. See below for some examples of a few of the winning songs from past contests:
Finalists, Semi Finalists, Commended Entries...
There are also many Finalist, Semi Finalist and Commended Entry winners in this category - see the Prizes Page for full details of prizes - and everyone will have their songs heard and examined and rated by industry professionals. Every writer who makes the finals will receive International Copyright Registrations at SongCopyright.org courtesy of the UKSC. Everyone who enters will receive valuable and useful song pitching opportunities and songwriting courses with SongU and also free Broadjam memberships which together are worth US$100. Plus every songwriter is given the judges score for each song and also receives a UKSC Certificate for every song entered with details of the writer's achievement and position. This competition gives a genuine chance to all songwriters to be noticed and discovered by the music industry in London and to have their songs judged and scored by industry professionals. Many entrants who didn't win a category have been noticed and promoted through the contest and have received royalty earning radio play for their entries and many more have been featured in the press, in radio interviews and on prime time television. Many entrants in this contest have been published, or have been signed or produced, by top industry figures who closely follow this event looking for new talent.
Some Past Pop Winners...
Jaron Natoli's winning 2013 Pop Category entry Running Away. Within days of the results announcement this young songwriter was featured and seen by millions on the hugely popular prime time Today Tonight Show. Jaron's proud father Chris said "Thanks heaps UKSC! Thanks to your competition Jaron's going to get the recognition he deserves."
This is the 2011 UK Songwriting Contest Pop Category winner. This recording is not the original entry but a new version of the winning song by top producer and UKSC judge Stuart Epps (well know for his work with Elton John, Robbie Williams, Oasis etc). Stuart was so impressed by this song when he heard it in the contest that he wanted to work with the writer, Ken Brown, to produce this stunning remix as part of the UKSC prize package in 2011.
The UKSC judges awarded the winning position in the 2012 Pop Category to this song from 16 year old Brooke Turner from Canada. It is a simple and lively pop song with a strong and memorable hook and chorus. It was a favourite with all the judges and Sting's producer, Kipper Eldridge, said that he "loved the guitar riff and the feel good simple party vibe."
This track shows how a very basic demo of a vocal with simple acoustic guitar backing recorded live at home - can win the UK Songwriting Contest. Production is not judged - it is the songwriting that is important. This track was a joint winner of the Pop Category in 2008. The other joint pop winner that year was by Belle Humble who went on to success as a writer for artists such as Paloma Faith and Alexandra Burke.
