Back in 1996, songwriter Alan Roy Scott (Music Bridges), publisher David Stark (Song Link International) and songwriter/promoter Brett Perkins (Brett Perkins Presents) set out to create a different kind of song contest. The 1997 Unisong International Song Contest was the first truly international song contest created "by songwriters...for songwriters".

Our Grand Prize winner that year was Lindy Robbins (who went on to secure a publishing deal with PolyGram directly from her participation in the "Music Bridges" gathering in Ireland that year which was her Grand Prize). She has since had her songs covered by Anastascia, Shaggy, Jesse McCartney, Toni Braxton, Michael Feinstein, numerous American Idol names like Jordan Sparks, Clay Aiken, Katherine McPhee, Bo Bice,  and is a co-writer of recent hits like "What's Left of Me" for Nick Lachey, "Back To You" for Faith Hill, Taylor Hicks' first single, "Just to Feel that Way;" "Just Another Girl” for Monica,  and "Incomplete" and “Inconsolable” for the Backstreet Boys. And Unisong was part of her trajectory.
 

Since those early days, the Unisong team has worked hard to present a competition that offers fresh opportunities year after year. But even as we reach for new ideas, expansion, and ongoing innovations, we still pride ourselves on the same personal attention we have always given our entrants. We never want to outgrow the simple heart and soul we started with that makes us who we are, songwriters.
   
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Unisong's Grand Prize is consistently unique among the major song contests. Past Unisong Grand Prize winners have had the opportunity to write with the likes of Burt Bacharach, Peter Buck, Jimmy Buffet, Gary Burr, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Stewart Copeland, Rodney Crowell, Lamont Dozier, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Frampton, Indigo Girls, Montell Jordan, Gladys Knight, Lisa Loeb, Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Joan Osborne, Lee Roy Parnell, Bonnie Raitt, Brenda Russell, Andy Summers, Don Was, and many others at "Music Bridges" retreats organized by Unisong co-founder Alan Roy Scott.
   
We've also made sure our entrants' music gets in front of people who matter. Previous Unisong judges and friends include: Lamont Dozier, Diane Warren, Bonnie Greenberg, K.C. Porter, Dave Koz, Peter Frampton, Fee Waybill, Allan Rich, Randy Bachman, Lester Sill, Don Grierson, Andrew Gold, Barry Mann, Randy Sharp, Harriet Schock, Mike Stoller, John Braheny, Michael Jay, Jorge Corrante, Don Was, John Kalodner, Bruce Lundvall and Desmond Child, Pat and Pete Luboff, and Dan Kimpel among many.
 

Over the years we've seen a lot of other song contests arrive on the scene. Many of them have followed Unisong’s lead as we pioneered the online song contest. Online registration, MP3 entries and audio clips of winning songs -- we offered them all here first. Yes, we're certainly flattered by the imitators, but we don't want to be confused with anyone else, or rest on our past laurels. So we’re always tinkering around in the basement, trying to come up with ways to make Unisong better and more responsive to your needs.

 
So (drum roll please!!!!) we're proud to present the 12th Annual Unisong International Song Contest. Take a look around and see all the latest additions and changes we’ve come up with this time around.
 
For starters, we're proud to offer over $60,000 in total cash and prizes! Our current one-of-a-kind Grand Prize really puts the "I" in International - a one week all expenses paid writing and performing retreat to your choice of Ireland, Denmark, Crete, Sweden, Spain, Big Sur, or the Faroe Islands  (courtesy of Listening Room International Songwriter Retreats). Plus some other cool prizes too.
 
Past Grand Prize winner Judith de los Santos for example, chose the annual retreat on Inisheer, the smallest of the three Aran Islands off the West Coast of Ireland as her prize. It would be easy to say she had an amazing time creatively, and it was an unforgettable experience for her, but if you go to the Prizes page on this site you can get a sense of it yourself via a short video she made to her Grand prize winning song "Everything" and some photos we posted. This could be you come next March 15th.
 

Or for those who would rather not travel to exotic lands, but have more cash for other things closer to home, we are offering an alternate Grand Prize for the first time consisting of $2,500, plus a package of other prizes. So now with the Grand Prize, it's your choice…"To travel, or not to travel"… or take the extra cash!!!
 
We're offering 16 diverse categories for this edition to cover as many genres as possible, reshuffling some existing categories around, and adding new ones, most notably bringing back our dedicated Performance (Artist & Song) category, where the winner is judged equally on the quality of their song AND the performance of it.
 
And in case you have a hard time deciding which category to enter your songs in, or where it fits best, we’re once again offering a Category Selection Option where we’ll decide which category is best and most appropriate style wise for you if needed.
 
We've also added some cool new sponsors like Shure, Line 6, Music Biz Registry, FXpansion, Loopmasters, Don Grierson Consulting, Shubb Capos, Loggins Promotions, Rock Star Image, Toontracks, Image Line software, MyRecordLabel.net, and ConcertsinyourHomes.com to go with our existing team of supporters and creative partnerships such as our good friends and songwriter brethren over at Songsalive!, supporting and promoting songwriters and composers worldwide.
 
Other continuing sponsors for our 12th edition include:, Disc Makers, Indiebible, Music Bridges, Music Connection, Sonicbids, Brett Perkins Presents Songlink, SongU.com, Dan Kimpel, and Taxi.
 
Songs overall are judged first on originality, melody, composition, and lyrics (when applicable). You don't have to have a professional recording to enter. We've had plenty of winners with just a strong guitar or piano and vocal demo alongside more fully produced ones. You may submit as many songs as desired in each category or enter the same song in more than one category We offer discounted entry fees for multiple entries throughout the entry period of the contest (June 1st, 2008 - November 15th, 2008). Take advantage of our "Early bird" deadline and save additional $$ on EVERY entry submitted on or before August 5th, 2008.
 
In addition, all entrants in all categories will receive a complimentary SongU.com self-paced course ($39.95 value) just for entering!!!
 
Other popular features we’re bringing back include the “Winner of the Month”, an additional "contest-within-a-contest" feature where one winner will automatically be selected from all entries in a given month and awarded an extra $250 prize, a free "killer drum track" by world class session drummer Chet McCracken www.ChetMccracken.com, MasterWriter www.MasterWriter.com, Sony ACID Pro 6 www.Sony.com, EZ Player Pro by Toontrack www.Toontrack.com, the Indie Bible www.IndieBible.com, a one hour consultation with Dan Kimpel  www.DanKimpel.com, Don Grierson www.DonGrierson.com, Rock Star Image www.RockStarImage.com, and a one month individual spotlight of the writer (s) and their song on the Unisong website. There will be a "Winner of the Month" selected in this edition of Unisong for the months of June, July, August, and September. This feature is judged in-house and separately from the main contest, and wining this prize has NO bearing on the regular contest judging afterwards. You don't have to do anything extra to be considered for this mini competition, just enter your songs from June through September.
 
We will also once again offer a critique for any song. But for this 12th edition we will be offering it in two versions, a Standard form for $10 (click here for an example), or a fuller Custom critique for $15 (click here for an example). Our team of knowledgeable and helpful critique experts are drawn from the same high level pool of songwriters, publishers, artists, and record company executives who do the regular judging for us. It's a great extra opportunity to receive valuable personal feedback on your current song craft.
 
We’re also bringing back the ever popular "People's Choice Award”, so the public and other songwriters can tell us what they think is the best song after the judges have made their decision. And that lucky songwriter will get an extra $500 plus extra prizes for being selected. Last time around we had over 20,000 votes for this Award!!!
 
And last but surely not least, we'll once again be making our Disc Makers/Unisong Volume 4 Winner’s compilation CD consisting of all the main 1st prize category winners plus the four “Winner of the Month” songs. This compilation will be promoted around the industry for additional exposure for our top winners.
 
So that's it. We still may not operate by corporate committee (did you ever try to get a bunch of songwriters to be that organized?), or have a bus full of recording gear...yet. However, you can still count on us to do our very best to bring you an honest and friendly song contest with cool opportunities for songwriters and artists around the world like you.
 
Thanks for checking us out. We can't wait to hear your songs and welcome you to the winner's circle come March!!!