The Benefits and Realities of Song Contests and Showcasing: Part 1

As featured in: Performing Songwriter Issue #28, January/February 1998.  Visit performingsongwriter.com to order back issues or subscribe.

By Bill Parsons

Part 1 | 2 | 3

SO YOU’VE GOT a killer new song. It moves you. It blew away your songwriting circle. It went over big time at your last couple of shows. And, well, you’re proud of it. You’d like it to find a larger audience. Or maybe you’d like it to find you a larger audience. If only you could get it in front of the right people.…

Song contests are everywhere. They take place year round, all over the country, in every musical genre, at the national, regional and community levels. They are sponsored by magazines, product manufacturers, service providers, festivals, conferences, performing rights organizations, venues, radio stations and songwriters associations. They offer prizes that can include thousands of dollars in cash, musical equipment, free recording services, publishing contracts, showcase appearances and, of course, the exposure and prestige of being a contest winner.

But what, really, does that get you? How important are song contests and showcases in building a successful music career? What if you win? What if you don’t? If you decide to enter, what are judges looking for? And is it even appropriate to inject competition into something as inherently subjective as music?

To answer these questions, I interviewed dozens of contest winners, promoters and judges, as well as music industry players whose attention many song contest participants are hoping to snare. The responses I got were illuminating and portray song contests as helpful but generally limited tools for building successful musical careers. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and I spoke with a few artists who did have exciting “breakthrough” experiences with song contests. Finally, for the purposes of this piece, I am lumping song contests and showcases together because, although there is often not a “winner” at conference showcases, the selection process to perform at them is essentially indistinguishable from a song contest.

What Winning A Song Contest Generally Won’t Do: The Myth of “Being Discovered"

It is perhaps best at this point to call a spade a spade. Songwriters—especially songwriters who enter song contests—are hungry to be heard. As feisty and self-sufficient as we would all like to be, there is a part of us that seeks validation from the outside world. Moreover, when it comes to things like song contests and conference showcases, many performing songwriters harbor hopes of “being discovered.” We have all heard stories of other successful artists who “got their break” after performing at “Showcase X” and secretly hope that maybe next year’s story will be about us. Unfortunately, according to my interviewees, this “Being Discovered” scenario is mostly myth.

“To be honest, I don’t believe people get signed due to a showcase,” says BMI’s Jeff Cohen, who is a frequent judge at BMI-sponsored songwriting contests and the host of BMI’s Acoustic Roundup Showcase in New York City. “It’s just exposure. It shows that another legitimate company believes in what you’re doing.” Adds 1997 Philadelphia Music Conference Showcase Coordinator Norman Carter, “If someone from a label discovers you at a conference, it’s not like they’re going to pull out a contract then and there. It’s more like you’re going to start a conversation, start sending them demos. You’re not going to walk in an unknown and walk out with a record deal.” “The myth is that one night is going to change your career,” Unisong Contest Co- Founder Brett Perkins admonishes. “Careers aren’t built on one night. They’re built on years of applying yourself to your craft, and building and building and building.”

Derrick Davies, the Director of the 1997 Billboard Magazine Song Contest, tells anyone who asks him that “there’s a lot more to being a successful artist than just writing a good song.” Okay, Derrick. Like what? “First of all, consistency,” says Davies. “With contests, it’s only one song. If you can’t do it consistently, you won’t be an asset to a record company. Also, there are so many good artists out there that the company has to enjoy being around you. You have to have that magic people are talking about. Another thing is extreme persistence. And finally, you really have to do it because you love it. If you do it for any other reason, it’s gonna show and somebody is gonna beat you to the record deal.”

“I don’t have any cute stories for you, Bill,” says Candace Avery, Founder, Director and Chief Stamplicker of the NEMO Conference in Boston, MA. “Showcasing is just one very small piece of a very large puzzle.” To illustrate, she ticks off the ten year growth curve of Boston area ska favorites, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. “I mean, I have literally watched the Bosstones grow up with the Kaluah Boston Music Awards (a prominent feature of the NEMO Conference)....We started the awards in 1987, and we had a ska category. The Bosstones were playing around town but didn’t get nominated for anything until 1991 when they were up for “Outstanding Local Rock Band” and didn’t win. In 1992, they won three indie awards for “Best Rock Album”, “Best Rock Single”, and “Best Local Rock Band”. In 1994, they won in their first major label category for “Outstanding Major Label Debut “ and for “Rising Star”, which is a very important award. In 1995, they were nominated for but did not win “Act of the Year.” Dickie Barrett won for “Outstanding Male Vocalist” in 1996 and this year (1997) they are nominated in seven categories and are going to win big. So now they’re stars, but it’s taken them ten years.”

What Winning A Song Contest Can Do: Think Building Block, Not Catapult

If winning a song contest or performing a good set at a high profile music conference showcase isn’t going to get you “discovered”, then what can it do? Plenty, according to artists who have participated in them. Just don’t cling blindly to unrealistic expectations, and be open to unpredictable, often incremental opportunities.

It is worth starting with a nod to the obvious: If you win a song contest, you can generally count on getting whatever the contest promoter advertised as the winners’ prize. Sometimes it’s money, sometimes equipment, sometimes a publishing contract or showcase appearance—in any case, you’ll get something. And sometimes that something is substantial. However, most songwriters aren’t just interested in the winners’ prizes. They want to know what “residual” benefits they can expect to reap from winning a contest. What kind of credential does the victory represent? Which doors will it open ? How will it forward their careers? The answers I got to those questions were as numerous as the artists I asked and included such things as: validation; good networking opportunities; enhanced promotional materials; better gigs; having other artists perform and/or record their material; new relationships with managers and booking agents; an d yes, even a couple of record deals.

Validation

John Braheny, co-founder and director of the Los Angeles Songwriters Showcase (now part of the National Academy of Songwriters), advises people not to underestimate the confidence- building value of winning a song contest: “It can validate a writer to the extent that it kicks their butt to get through the door. There’s no telling what that confidence means in somebody’s career.”

1979 Kerrville New Folk Winner and Warner recording artist Tish Hinojosa will tell you exactly what it meant for her career. For Hinojosa, the Kerrville Showcase was a turning point in her own identity as a songwriter: “What it provided for me was more than being a winner. It was more than a contest. I had never considered myself a writer, never been encouraged. These were the first couple of songs I had written. And I needed that kind of encouragement. After Kerrville I started writing songs with a little more purpose and aggression. That aggression got me writing real songs. That was significant.”

John Smith, a favorite at the Coloradobased Telluride Troubadour and Rocky Mountain Emerging Songwriter showcases, adds “When you’re from a small little town in Wisconsin like myself, it definitely gives you validation. Sometimes you don’t totally know: Does this play outside Peoria? So you write the songs and they’re like little birds and you want to see if they can fly, to see if you’re on the mark. It doesn’t hurt for someone to pat you on the back and say ‘nicely done’ .”

1993 Kerrville New Folk and 1996 Telluride Troubadour Winner Michael Lille concurs, saying “It helps you believe in yourself a little bit...It definitely gives you that self esteem and confidence in a world where you’re one of a million people out there writing songs.” And that, says Kerrville Folk Festival Director Rod Kennedy, is exactly the point: “The New Folk Competition has validated a crop of emerging songwriters every year, giving them self esteem and confidence. Many of them are from small towns where there are no other writers. In addition, it creates the opportunity to network with other writers who are at the same place in their career.”

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