Gretta Ray Wins 2016 Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition

Emergent singer-songwriter Gretta Ray is moving from strength to strength, following up her recent victory in this year's triple j Unearthed High competition by taking out the prestigious Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition for 2016.

The venerated award — which just landed Ray a casual $50,000 in prizemoney courtesy of Alberts and APRA AMCOS — was announced this afternoon, seeing the young songstress rise above a field of nearly 4000 entries from more than 2400 songwriters across 20 countries to take the top prize. Previous winners have included the likes of Husky Gawenda, Isabella Manfredi (The Preatures), Kimbra and Megan Washington.

She was in good company in the upper echelons too, with ARIA-nominated troubadour Emma Louise coming in second with her track Underflow, netting her $10,000 courtesy of the Australasian Music Publishers Association (AMPAL), and Sydney outfit Tigertown and US songwriter Tia P tying for third with their respective tracks Lonely Cities and 4 Seats From Beyonce. The shared bronze nabbed both acts $5,000 apiece supplied by AEG Ogden and APRA AMCOS.

Ray, who is still staring down the barrel of her graduation from high school, is a deserving winner of the prize, demonstrating mature and considered songwriting acumen in her lauded track and proving herself a forward-thinking young adult when speaking of the boons she'll be afforded as a result of the win.

"For any artist this would be an amazing thing in their career," Ray effused in a statement. "This is not an industry that brings a lot of money to many people. You really have to struggle or get other jobs to support yourself which I will probably have to do too. But this is an incredible privilege. 

"I am about to finish high school and now I have this advantage in supporting my journey. I wanted to take a gap year and just throw myself into the music world. This makes that more possible. This is the job I really want to do and this will help make that dream more real."

This year's Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition raised $200,000 for Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia, with the grand majority — $196,700 — being raised through the competition's $50 entry fee, with a further $3300 being supplied by a former prizewinner to get it over the line.

Said David Albert of Alberts: "We have been long standing supporters of Nordoff-Robbins. What makes this competition so special is that it recognises exceptional songwriting whilst also raising funds for the essential work of this important organisation. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to the many songwriters and partners who supported the competition."

Echoed APRA AMCOS chief executive Brett Cottle: "The Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition is a tremendous example of the depth of talent within the songwriting community. Taking out first place from such an outstanding group of finalists is no small feat, and Gretta Ray has proved she has a huge future ahead.

"APRA AMCOS congratulates Gretta and fellow prize winners Emma Louise, Tigertown and our first international recipient, Tia P. Music brings value to life in so many ways, and we are proud to support the work of Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy through the Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition."