$50,000 Vanda & Young Songwriting Comp Opens Entries

Entries for the nation’s prestigious, annual charity composers’ contest, the Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition, are now open.

In conjunction with APRA AMCOS and Alberts – as well as the fine folks of Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy Australia (NRMTA) – the competition will afford one lucky songwriter (or group of songwriters) a chance at snagging $50,000 in cash and the esteem of joining the hallowed ranks of previous prizewinners including Megan Washington (2009), Kimbra (2011) and The Preatures (2013).

Runners up aren’t left out in the cold, either, with further cash prizes of as much as $10,000 up for grabs for the second-placegetter, sponsored by the Australasian Music Publishers Association (AMPAL), with five grand set aside for the bronze, courtesy of new sponsor AEG Ogden. There’s more, too – a new encouragement award of $2000, donated by 2013 prizewinners The Preatures, is also on offer.

“Winning the Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition was such a huge leg-up for us, and we wanted to show our thanks and support by helping the next wave of applicants with this encouragement award,” frontwoman Isabella Manfredi said.  

“It is a great honour for APRA AMCOS to support this competition because of what it achieves,” Brett Cottle, the chief executive of APRA AMCOS, added in a statement. “First, the fantastic work of Nordoff-Robbins and their music therapy is supported and they can continue to bring music into the world of people who get real benefits from it. Secondly, the opportunity for talented songwriters to be recognised and also get some help in the next stage of their career.”

Entry to the 2014 Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition will set you back an easy $50, with the opportunity coming to a close on September 22 before the judging panel get to work. See below for a full list of judges.

For more information about the competition, see APRA AMCOS’ website.

2014 Vanda & Young Song Competition Judges

Industry and Media:

Amanda Lee - Southern Cross Austereo
Andrew Mast - theMusic.com.au
Bob Gordon - Xpress Magazine
Chris Martin - The Brag
Dan Zilber - FBi Radio
Danielle McGrane - AAP
Don Elford – AEG Ogden
Kathy McCabe – The Daily Telegraph / News Corp Australia
Larry Heath - the AU review
Lindsay McDougall - triple j
Bernard Zuel – Sydney Morning Herald / Fairfax Media
Martin Boulton - The Age / Fairfax Media
Iain Shedden – The Australian / News Corp Australia
Paul Cashmere - Noise 11
Poppy Reid - The Music Network
Robert Dunstan - Freelance Writer
Scott Fitzsimons - theMusic.com.au

Record Companies:

Mark Holland – EMI Recorded Music Australia Michael Taylor (Universal Music Australia)
Peter Karpin (Mercury Records/Universal Music Australia)

International Judges:

Isabel Pappani – Undercover Tracks/Los Angeles APRA AMCOS Member Relations Rep (USA)
Mark Moffatt – Producer/Songwriter/Nashville APRA AMCOS Member Relations Rep (USA)
Mitch Allan – writer (USA)
Peter Coquillard - Bill Silva Publishing (USA)
Steve Lillywhite – producer (USA)
David Ryan Harris – singer/songwriter/producer (USA)

APRA AMCOS Ambassadors:

Eric McCusker
Jenny Morris
Jonathan Zwartz
Les Gock
Josh Pyke
Rai Thistlethwayte
Eric Chapus
Grant Windsor
Ilan Kidron (Potbelleez)
Jonny Sonic (Potbelleez)
Dave Goode (Potbelleez)
Amanda Brown
John Schumann
Brendan Gallagher
Kevin Mitchell
James Blundell
Mark Atkins