2015 UNSIGNED ONLY MUSIC COMPETITION JUDGING PANEL ANNOUNCED

Sinead O'Connor, Alt-J, The Killers, Aimee Mann, Dustin Lynch, Rosanne Cash, and More Sign On As Judges

December 17, 2014 - Unsigned Only Music Competition revealed today its high-profile judging panel for the 2015 competition, which is now accepting entries. The renowned panel consists of iconic recording artists and journalists and will determine the winners in eleven categories representing a wide variety of commercial genres of music.

Designed for solo artists, bands, and singers who are not signed to a major label, Unsigned Only's goal is to find an outstanding, talented performing artist: a band, singer, or solo artist. Unsigned Only gives away over $100,000 in cash and prizes, including $10,000 in cash and one-on-one mentoring by an elite group of record company executives to the overall Grand Prize winner. First and Second Place winners in each category will also be chosen. The deadline to enter is March 18, 2015. Original and cover songs are accepted in all categories except for Screen Shot which accepts original songs only.

Artists may enter into any of the following categories: Adult Album Alternative (AAA) Adult Contemporary (AC); Americana; Christian; Country; Folk/Singer-Songwriter; R&B/Hip-Hop; Rock; Pop/Top 40; Screen Shot; Teen; and Vocal Performance.

Screen Shot is a new category that has been added this year, and it is geared toward helping artists get their music in film, TV, video games, and advertising. Music execs who are looking to place music in various projects will be judging this category and will also provide advice on music licensing to the winner of the category. Included are: Michelle Bayer (Shelly Bay Music); Michelle Silverman (Modern Planet); Ani Johnson (Monomyth Media); Evan Stein (Experience Music Group); Velma Barkwell (East End Music Productions); Jen Taunton (Level Two Music); and more to be announced.

"Last year Screen Shot was a special promotion that we ran for entrants," says Founders/Directors Candace Avery and Jim Morgan. "The response was huge and was a great success for many artists who were able to secure licensing deals for their music. This is just another way for Unsigned Only to help its entrants, and we are excited to be able to open these new doors for independent artists."

Judges include:  Aimee Mann; Alt-J; Dustin Lynch; Sinead O'Connor; The Killers; Rosanne Cash; David Crowder; Robert Smith (The Cure); Darryl McDaniels (Run DMC); Ray Wylie Hubbard; Aaron Shust; Lucero; Kelly Price; Colt Ford; Frank Foster; Jason Gray; Rapsody; Kool And The Gang; Anthony DeCurtis (Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone); Kyle Anderson (Senior Writer, Entertainment weekly); Josh Jackson (Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief, Paste Magazine); Chris Richards (Pop Music Critic, The Washington Post); Michael Hann (Music Editor, The Guardian); Shirley Halperin (Music Editor, Billboard and Hollywood Reporter); Lucy Jones (Deputy Editor, NME); Hardeep Phull (Music Critic, New York Post); and more to be announced.

Unsigned Only is sponsored by: Sony Creative Software, Guitar Center, D'Addario, Disc Makers, Ultimate Ears, Lurssen Mastering, Master Tour by Eventric, and The Music Business Registry.

For entry and general information, please go to http://www.unsignedonly.com

Congratulations/Llongyfarchiadau To This Years Winner - Carole Standish Mora

We would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate all our competitors. 2014 was undoubtedly one of the best years yet for our Poetry Competition both in terms of the quantity and quality of entries. Our judge, Peter Thabit Jones has reached a decision and his adjudication appears below:-

 

Americymru Poetry Competition 2014

"I enjoyed reading all the entries for the competition.  I kept coming back to the poems by Carole Standish Mora, Tracy Davidson, Paul Steffan Jones, Darrell Lindsey, Laura Davies Foley, Bel Roberts, Cathy Bryant, all of whom submitted very impressive work.

It really was very difficult to a choose a winner because each of them offered several first-class poems that made a real impact on me.  I have, though, chosen Carole Standish Mora as this year’s winner.  Five Poems by Carole Standish Mora "

Details of next years competitions will be announced shortly and we hope that all our 2014 entrants will consider competing again in the new year.  We will be contacting the winners and runners up of the poetry and short story competitions via email shortly.

THE SEVENTH QUARRY Swansea Poetry Magazine aims to publish quality poems from around the world.

 

 

Books by Peter Thabit Jones on the Welsh American Bookstore

Congratulations/Llongyfarchiadau To This Years Winner - Sally Spedding

We would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate all our competitors. 2014 was undoubtedly the best year yet for our Short Story Competition both in terms of the quantity and quality of entries. Our judge, Mike Jenkins has reached a decision and his adjudication appears below:-

Details of next years competitions will be announced shortly and we hope that all our 2014 entrants will consider competing again in the new year. We are also considering the possibility of including more competition entries in our bi-annual short fiction anthology - eto.

Check back tomorrow for the announcement of our 2014 Poetry competition winners. We will be contacting the winners and runners up of both competitions via email shortly.

Books by Mike Jenkins on the Welsh American Bookstore