JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Success Stories Forum Song Of The Year Contest

For what it's worth: Several weeks ago I contacted one of the SOTY 2011 category winners (he's on another site of which I'm a member). I asked if he'd share with me what his experience of the contest had been.

His response: "...there is truth in both sides of that debate [my note: whether contests are scams]. There are song contests that are rip-offs and there are others that are not. For me personally I can tell you that John Lennon, International song Contest, Great american Contest, UK song Contest, USA Song Contest, Durango Write With a Hit Maker, Song of The Year Contest, Song door, Indie International, NSAI/CMT, Australian International Song Competition are all contests that I have either won and/or placed highly in. They all delivered the prizes that they promised."

He also mentioned that he enters contests not with an explicit desire to win but to gain some idea of how his songs might compete at a commercial level. He finds that experience useful. He said that the several songs that he's had cut or placed in film/tv have always been ones that did well in the contests. He also mentioned that entering those contests and placing high brought his work to the attention of folks in the industry.

Further to all this, however, as he wasn't an overall winner of SOTY 2011, he wasn't eligible for the $30,000 grand prize. To find out whether that prize was paid out, I'd need to contact the winner. I'll leave that to someone else, however.

Donna