“Ain’t no chance if you dont take it”, Guy Clark

The Rocky Mountain Songwriting Contest is uniquely designed to offer  opportunities for songwriters to get your song heard

Dallas Remington, winner of the 2019 Songwriter Showcase

The Rocky Mountain Songwriting Showcase will be held during the Red Lodge Songwriter Festival on Saturday, June 26, 9 am – 12 pm at the Historic Roman Theater. It is open to the public so please attend and support your favorite songwriter.

We are currently accepting a hundred (100) songs to be judged by Nashville hit writers and music experts. The twenty (20) best written songs and their writers will have the opportunity to perform their song live on  stage at the Historic Roman Theater at the Songwriting Contest Showcase on Saturday June 26, 2021. The top two songwriters will play Saturday night, opening for the Nashville Hit Songwriters, and the three runner-ups will play at Lion’s Park on Saturday afternoon.

We will be accepting song submissions beginning December 1, 2020 and ending May 1, 2021. The finalists will be notified on May 15, 2021.

Why enter the 2021 Rocky Mountain Songwriting Contest?

• You’ll have opportunities to be recognized as a finalist and possibly the Grand Prize Winner of the Rocky Mountain Songwriting Contest Showcase, and invited back in 2022 as a paid Rising Star songwriter.
• You’ll have the opportunity to get your songs heard and evaluated by Nashville music-industry professionals.
• You’ll have opportunities to advance your songwriting.
• Opportunity to perform in front of a live audience at the Songwriting Contest Showcase.
• Your song will be posted on our website.
• Five of last years showcase finalists were invited to play as Rising Stars at the 2021 festivals.

1)  PRIZES

• This year’s grand prize winner will receive a Recording King Guitar.
• The grand prize winner will also receive an invitation to perform at one of the Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festivals as a Rising Star Songwriter (Red Lodge, Whitefish or Yellowstone). 
• The grand prize and 2nd place songwriter will have the opportunity to open the show before the Nashville Hit Songwriters on Saturday, June 26, 2021.
• 3rd, 4th and 5th place songwriters will play in the afternoon on, Saturday June 26, 2021 at Lions Park.

2)  ELIGIBILITY

• The contest is open to songwriters who are 18 years of age or older on the date of song submission.
• For the purposes of the competition, a song must have both lyrics and music. All submitted songs must be original songs that have been written or co-written by the entrant(s).
• For competition purposes, an unpublished song is defined as being recorded and self-released by the entrant(s) and/or not co-published by a commercially active music publisher.
• Co-writers are subject to the same eligibility criteria.
• Past grand prize winners of the Rocky Mountain Songwriting Contest are not eligible to enter the contest. All other previous entrants and finalists are eligible.
• Artists from anywhere in the world are eligible to enter.

3)  FINALISTS AND WINNER(S) SELECTION

A total of twenty (20) finalists will be selected to perform in the live performance showcase of the 2021 Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festival Contest Finals, held on Saturday June 26, 2021 at the Historic Roman Theater in beautiful Red Lodge, Montana. The finalists will be selected from their mp3 audio submissions by a panel of judges. Each finalist will perform their submitted songs to a panel of music industry judges.

4)  THE FINALS, SONGWRITING SHOWCASE

• The finals this year will be held in beautiful Red Lodge Montana on Saturday, June 26, 2021 at the Historic Roman Theater in conjunction with the 5th Annual Red Lodge Songwriter Festival.
• The top twenty (20) finalists songwriters will be notified by May 15, 2021
• Twenty (20) finalists will be selected from advance online song entries, and invited to compete, network and perform at the showcase.
• From the showcase performance, judges will  select an overall winner and places two through five.
• The grand prize and 2nd place songwriter will have the opportunity open the show before the Nashville Hit Songwriters on Saturday, June 26, 2021.
• Places 3rd through 5th will play  in Lions Park on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm before a live audience.

5) JUDGING

Judges for our songwriting contest are music industry professionals. Our judges use a consistent set of standards which the judges use to make impartial decisions as to the merits of the song. We strive to make sure that the judging is fair and follows our mission of supporting and encouraging songwriters.

SONG STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION

• The song has a clear theme or cohesive idea
• The song has clearly identifiable sections, verse, chorus, etc.
• The song is between 2 to 5 minutes

LYRICS

• The lyrics evoke an emotional response from the listener
• The lyrics are singable and memorable
• The lyrics have an identifiable rhyme scheme or pattern

MUSIC & MELODY

• The music and melody adds to the emotional impact of the song
• The music keeps the listener interested and engaged
• The music and lyrics fit together in a cohesive way

ORIGINALITY

• The song expresses the theme in a new or fresh way
• The song is memorable
• The song has commercial potential

6)  COST TO ENTER

• Per Song:  $20

7)  SUBMISSION POLICY

• Each entry must be an original, unpublished musical composition (“composition”) for which the contestant retains the copyright and authority to submit and perform the composition in the contest. Payment for each composition entered in the contest must be made at the time of submission. Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festivals Inc. is not responsible and disclaims any liability for late, lost, damaged, misdirected, postage due, stolen, or misappropriated entries or for any errors in online submissions, including, but not limited to unsuccessful file uploads. Materials submitted will not be returned and Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festivals Inc. reserves the right to dispose of all submitted material in any manner.
• All songs will be posted on our website
• We will accept song submissions beginning January 1, 2021 and ending May 1st, 2021.

8)  HOW TO SUBMIT TO THE 2021 ROCKY MOUNTAIN SONGWRITING CONTEST 

• Songs must be submitted electronically in a mp3 file format with lyrics sheet in pdf format. Email songs and lyrics to [email protected]
• Song must be paid for in advance sing our online payment portal.
• Songs will be posted on our website once we’ve received payment. You can make your payment by clicking the button below.
• Email any questions or requests for for information to: [email protected]

9)  NOTIFICATIONS & WAIVERS

• The top twenty (20) finalists songwriters will be notified by April 15, 2020
• Selected finalists will be notified by email and each winner must provide the following items to be eligible to compete in the Red Lodge Songwriting Contest Showcase:

Red Lodge Songwriter Festival Inc. retains the exclusive right to use in perpetuity any media inclusive of ancillary rights created in conjunction with the Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festivals Inc. including but not limited to; live recordings, video, webisodes, and photographs. Participants grant Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festivals Inc. the use of this archival material in perpetuity.

10)  RESTRICTIONS

• Entries must be original songs.
• The song MUST be performed by the song contest entrant. Songs that have been recorded with more than one backing musician can be submitted — for example, sending in a cut from a CD with multiple players. But remember, should you advance and perform live, you will only be allowed one backing musician on stage. This accompanist may play an instrument(s) and/or sing backup.
• Co-written songs may be submitted, but the person who enters the song must be the one who is the lead singer of the tune.
• IMPORTANT POINT: Though co-writers will be acknowledged, only the performer of the song can qualify to win a prize.
• The writer(s) retains all rights to submitted songs.

We want to give songwriters a chance to have their music heard.  We’re believers in creativity, chasing dreams and getting the chance to pursue your passion.  We know it takes courage, conviction and passion to pursue your music and find your purpose.

I’d like to share a promoters perspective on songwriting contests.  While songwriting contests by nature have a winner(s), there are not any losers.  Every song has individual strengths, originality, creativity and deep emotion vested into by the songwriter. These are things that are hard to rank and judge.

You may be asking why I should enter these types of contests.  Simply, contests provide opportunities. For a small fee you gain access to thousands of potential fans, other music professionals and festival bookers.  Their facebook pages, websites and live audiences provide you access to fans you may never reach otherwise.  In the case of the Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festivals Inc. we invite the winner to come back and play the following year.  In addition, many of our paid Rising Star songwriters were first introduced to us through our songwriting contest.  Many others are recruited from the roster of songwriters performing at other festivals.

During the course of the contest your songs are posted on our website, many of the songs are shared on our facebook and instagram pages.  At our festival,  the twenty finalists get the opportunity to perform live at the showcase before Nashville music professionals, the runner-ups play at Lions Park in Red Lodge before a crowd of music fans, and the winner and runner-up open for the Nashville Hit songwriters on Saturday night.  Normally 40-50 songwriters perform during our three day festival, networking with other songwriters and listening to other great songwriters.  We hope you’ll experience our festival in the coming years.

So what’s stopping you?    

Click Here to Email Your song as a mp3 file & Lyrics as a pdf file.