Contests

The 2010 Australian Songwriting Contest is now closed, and judging is underway! Scroll down for further general information about the contest and the judging process.

VIEW THE 2009 RESULTS

Top 10 Finalists were announced at the National Awards Night on Thursday 22 Oct 2009, and are now listed on the 2009 results  page of this site, as well as on our MySpace site. Congratulations those who managed to make it to this elite group!

General facts about the Australian Songwriting Contest:

The ASA’s Australian Songwriting Contest began in 1979, and is Australia’s longest running national songwriting contest for professional and amateur songwriters. Songs are submitted on CD or via Sonicbids (more ecomonical option), and are judged by Music Industry experts on originality and craftsmanship. The song does not have to be performed by the songwriter, but it must be original and unpublished at the time of entry (i.e. the song must not be signed to a publishing company). The recording quality of material is not relevant to the judging process.

Professional song feedback can also be ordered by entrants. See Feedback Service under Members tab for more details.
Contact:
ASA National Office
Locked Bag 18/178
Newtown NSW 2042
Australia

Ph/Fax: 02 9516 2444
Email: asanationaloffice@bigpond.com

Results Archive:

• 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2003 - 2002 - 2001 - 2000 - 1999

Categories

There are 13 Categories in the Australian National Songwriting Contest, including an open-genre International Category which citizens from any country of the World can enter (including Australians). Most of the other Categories are genre specific, and are for Australian songwriters only. It is up to you as the entrant what category you enter your song in, although if the judges feel that a song has been mis-categorised by the entrant, they will re-enter it in a more appropriate category to give it a better chance.

Entries Are Anonymous

We ask manual entrants not to put identifying information on their entries, but if they do, their entry will be rendered anonymous before judging takes place. Judges recieve material with idenifying numbers and song names only.

Two-tiered Judging

There are two levels of judging.

Preliminary Round -  All songwriters who make the top 30 list of any of the judges, are notified that they have been short-listed in the preliminary round of the judging process. Depending on how many of the judges pick the same songs, the size of the short list will vary.

The judges assess songs according to the criteria, to arrive at a total mark for each song from each individual judge. An equalising process is then used to rank the songs by giving 30 pts to the most favoured, and 29 the next and so on.  These rankings are then added together to give a final mark for that entry. So, for example, if a song scored 90 points as a final mark after using the ranking system that would mean it was the top choice of three judges. This method best allows for fairness to the entrant, considering that some judges may be low scorers or high scorers across the board.

Finalist Round – The Top 25 songs, based on the total ranked assessment of all the Preliminary Judges for each Category, are then forwarded to a second round of judges (minimum of 3 respected music industry professionals per Category).

Again the equalising ranking process is used to establish the Top 10.

Results

Once the top ten placings are decided, the first place winners of the Major Open Categories and Youth Category will receive a phonecall and/or be notified in writing. The remaining Top 25 Finalists for each Category are encouraged to attend the National Awards Night, where they can find out in person if they made it to the Top 10! Even those who don’t get into the Top 10 have a great time at this event, as they are able to hear the winning songs played live on the night, and network with other successful songwriters and industry people as part of the fraternity. As a major industry event, the ASA National Awards Night is important for serious songwriters.  Subsequently (usually within 48 hrs after the National Awards Night) the final Top 10 results will be posted on this site.

Those who recieve nominations for the Songwriter of the Year and the Rudy Brandsma Award will be notified prior to the Awards Night.

In the event of a tied mark, entries are awarded equal placings and any prizes will be split between the entrants.

Judging Criteria

Songs are judged on aspects of the songwriting craft:

• lyrics
• melody
• structure
• arrangement
• and originality

Because the major concern of the Association is songwriting, the songs are not judged on the performance or the quality of the recording.
The ASA chooses the judges but is not responsible for their decisions. The ASA selects the winner of the Songwriter of the Year from among the Category Winners, and the Rudy Brandsma encouragement award from among member songwriters who have done well in the competition, or who display some outstanding element that cannot be overlooked.

For the Australian Songwriting Contest Categories, Rules & Conditions & Sponsors see this year’s entry form (link available on Home Page).