1 Terms and Conditions

The following terms and conditions constitute the rules of entry to The Song Comp. By entering the competition entrants agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

2 What is it

“The Song Comp” is a songwriting competition devoted to discovering and advancing songwriting talent. The Song Comp is run by Songsalive! Australia and administered by “The Song Comp Committee” (“The Song Comp Committee”), a committee appointed by Songsalive! Australia.

The Song Comp 2018 - Entries open November 2018

3 Who can enter

Entry to The Song Comp is open to all songwriters, amateur or professional signed or unsigned.
Members of The Song Comp Committee and their immediate families are not permitted to enter the competition.
Songs co-written by members of the committee or their immediate family are also not eligible for entry into the competition.
Entrants under the age of eighteen years must provide consent from their parent or legal guardian.
First round judges are permitted to enter the competition; they are restricted however to entering categories in which they have no judging involvement.
Due to the nature of the second round judging, Second Round judges will not be allowed to enter the competition.
All entries will be reviewed prior to commencement of judging to ensure adherence to these rules.

4 What can you enter

Entrants may enter as many songs in as many categories as they like.
Entries must be original songs, written or co-written by the entrant.
Entries must not infringe the copyright of any third party
Where copyright is held by a third party, it is the responsibility of the entrant to arrange appropriate clearance to enter the competition.
The Song Comp accepts entries in good faith. By entering the competition the entrant indemnifies Songsalive! Australia, The Song Comp and the Song Comp Committee against any claims resulting from copyright infringement.

5 How to enter

5.1 Online

Our preferred method of entry is online via the Song Central song competition platform.

All online entrants must submit

A recording of the song in MP3 format (128 kbps) with NO REFERENCES to the author in the file name.
An electronic copy of the lyrics with NO REFERENCES to the author in the file name or the lyric page itself.
A nomination for the category or categories that they wish to enter
Full payment of the entry fee in Australian dollars (See Schedule A for details)

5.2 Mail Entries

Should the entrant for any reason not be able to enter via the online platform then they may enter by sending their entry to

Songsalive! Australia “The Song Comp”
P.O. Box 135 Castle Hill, NSW 1765

Mail Entries must include

A CD of the song or songs
- on a CD Disc clearly labeled with the song names and entrants name.
- enclosed in a standard jewel case.
- Please note that “slim line” jewel cases will not be not accepted.
- with the jewel case clearly labeled with the song names and entrants name.
- and with the Entrant’s name printed on the spine of the case.
Two typed copies of lyrics on A4 paper
- One song per page.
- Clearly labeled with the song name and entrants name.
A page providing the following details:
- Song Name
- Songwriter (name, address & phone number
- Co-writer(s) (if applicable)
- Category you wish to enter.
- Full payment of the entry fee in Australian dollars (See Schedule A for details)
Materials submitted to the competition (including but not limited to CD’s and lyric sheets) will NOT be returned to the entrants.
Entries will be rendered anonymous and uploaded to the online competition platform once payment has been cleared.
Once the songs have been uploaded to the online competition platform, the materials including, but not limited to CD’s and lyric sheets, will be destroyed.
Songsalive! Australia, The Song Comp, and The Song Comp Committee accept no responsibility for entries lost in the mail/delivery process. The Song Comp recommends you register the package for security.
To be accepted into the competition all Mail Entries must be postmarked on or before the closing date of the competition and received within one week of the closing date.

6 Categories

6.1 Entry Categories

All entries must be made to one of the following categories:

Pop	Rock
Lyrics Only	Ballad
Spiritual	Geoff Mack Country Song of the Year
Singer Songwriter	Children / Novelty / Comedy
The Memorial Song	Youth

To be considered for the youth category entrants must be aged 18 years or younger as at December 31, 2018.
All genres of music are accepted in this category.

7 Competition Period

The Song Comp will be open for entries from November 15th, 2018 until March 15th, 2019, inclusive.
The finalists will be announced in March/April 2019 and the Top 5 and category winners at the Awards Show in April 2019.
NOTE: Songsalive! Australia, while attempting to meet the above dates, reserves the right to extend the closing date of the competition and/or delay the announcement of results due to unforeseen circumstances.

8 Judging

The competition will be run in two rounds.
An initial screening round will be handled by a listening committee arranged by Songsalive! Australia. The listening committee will be comprised of industry professionals and music consumers.
This committee will select the finalists who will go into a second round and be judged by the judging panel.
The judging panel will comprise of music industry professionals, independent of Songsalive! Australia. They will select the category winners and also the overall winner.
An online system will ensure anonymity of the entrants and impartiality of the judging throughout both rounds.

The entrant agrees that entries will be distributed to the judges. The entrant agrees to indemnify, and hold Songsalive! Australia, its sponsors, judges and The Song Comp Committee free from liability, damages, or claims for injury or loss to any person or property relating to, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, participation in The Song Comp.

The judges’ decisions will be final and binding. No correspondence will be entered into relating to their decisions.

9 Winners

Winners will be contacted within four weeks of the close of judging.
Winners may be required to sign an affidavit confirming their ownership of their entry before receiving some or all, of their prize.
Should, after eight weeks, for any reason, Songsalive! Australia be unable to contact a prize winner, we reserve the right to assign the prize to the runner up in that category.

10 Prizes

Prizes will be awarded by the judging panel in conjunction with Songsalive! Australia The Song Comp.
There will be no transfer or substitution of prizes.
Best efforts will be made to ensure that appropriate prizes are provided to each category winner.
Songsalive! Australia will not be held responsible if an entrant is unable to make use of their prize for any reason.
The entrant will be responsible for any tax or duty payable as a result of receiving their prize.

11 Copyright

Entrants will retain all ownership rights to all submitted songs.

Under no circumstance will either Songsalive! Australia, The Song Comp or The Song Comp Committee attempt to acquire or attain any ownership rights to any entries submitted to the competition. This includes, but is not limited to, entries, finalists and/or winners’ entries included on promotional CD’s or websites.

12 Song Critiques:

The Song Comp will provide an additional detailed critique of entered songs.
There will be a charge as per the fee structure (Appendix A).
The fee will cover administration costs and the time of the evaluator.
These comprehensive critiques will be done outside the judging process and will not in any way influence the competition results.

Appendix A – Entry Fees

Members of Songsalive! Australia entering online

Song entry per category: $25.00

Music and lyrics critique: $33.00

Lyrics only critique: $22.00

Non-members of Songsalive! Australia entering online

Song entry per category: $35.00

Music and lyrics critique: $44.00

Lyrics only critique: $33.00

Physical Mail Entry

$50 per entry

Member denotes membership of Songsalive! Australia.

Membership of Songsalive! Australia is not mandatory to be eligible to enter The Song Comp.
Entrants are eligible for the discounted entry fee, if they choose to become a member of Songsalive! Australia during the song entry process. http://www.songsaliveaustralia.org.au/join.html

The annual membership fee for Songsalive! Australia is $60.00.

Apendix B – Judges

Bill Page - Creative Manager Mushroom Music Publishing
Hayley Warner - (EMI) Multi-platinum songwriter
Matthew Donlevy - Music publisher - Peer Music Publishing
Lea Goodrem - Artist Development Consultant
Esther Volstad - Licensing Manager, Shout Records
Dr. Brendon Nelson - Member of the Australian House of Representatives
Christie Lamb - Award-winning songwriter / Performer
Simon Johnson - Studio owner / Producer / Songwriter
Ned Kulasin - Musical instruments retailer / Musician
Rob Case - CEO New Pants / Old Pants Publishing (U.S.)
Allan Caswell - Multi Award-winning songwriter
Suzanne Serelle - Award winning songwriter | producer
Duncan Hill - Songwriter / President TSA
Roger Corbett - Multi Award-winning songwriter - The Bushwackers
Stewart Peters - Multi Award winning Singer/Songwriter
Simon Johnson - Producer / Musician
Rico Soto - General Manager Oxygen Music Group / Hydrogen Records
Caitlin Harnett - Mushroom signed singer songwriter
Ella Hooper - Award-winning Australian songwriter
Ryan Sampson - Award-winning Australian singer-songwriter
Alyce Simmonds - Award-winning Australian singer-songwriter