Let me piggyback on that comment. Because I don't think that SOTY is a "scam" in the real sense of the word. A "scam" is where someone takes your money under false pretenses and doesn't deliver what they promise. That's not the case here.

SOTY is a contest, where you pay money to enter, songs are evaluated based on some criteria, a winner (and runners-up) are chosen, and prizes are awarded. All of that happens -- from that perspective, it's on the up-and-up.

But I could start the Zmulls Song Contest tomorrow, with a $1000 prize for the top song. I could charge, say, $10 per entry, and if I got at least 100 entries, I won't lose money giving the prize away. As long as I spend a couple of minutes listening to each song, and conscientiously say "hmmm...this song is the best one" and send out the check, my contest is legitimate. Now, is my contest more or less legitimate than SOTY? Matter of opinion.

Anyone can run a song contest, the only question is what does it mean to win it? How does the industry view it (if at all)? What is the industry participation? The ISC and JLSC have major industry players as judges, for instance.

Full disclosure -- I have entered SOTY in the past, and have placed a couple of songs in Runner-Up and Finalist places, and use that information on my website. It's nice to have your song chosen, it's a shot in the arm and ego, and just being chosen above X other songs means *something*.

As long as you know what it is you are giving your money for, and what you can get from it, cool. I think the "scam" comments aren't to say SOTY is dishonest, I think they are to say, "think about what you're doing."

(I still thing that scam-scams.org site is hinky, though)

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2007 Grand Prize Winner International Songwriting Competition

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