How to submit your students' entries

Visit https://www.musicfirst.co.uk/competition-entry-2023 

To submit your students' entries for the Young Creative Musician Festival 2023, you'll need to complete two sections of the form by 11:59 pm on 2nd June 2023. 

The first section requires some essential details about your school or college, and yourself as a teacher, so that we can contact you in case any of your student's progress to the Masterclass with our award-winning judge, YolanDa Brown OBE. 

In the second section, you must upload a zip file that contains all your students' entries. The file must be an audio file in either MP3 or wav format, and it could be a mixdown from a DAW, a studio multi-track recording, a live desk capture, or an ambient recording. Please make sure that all files are correctly labelled and included in the zip file.

IMPORTANT: It is crucial to correctly label all your students' work before creating a zip file to ensure that our judges can correctly identify the individual, their category, age group, and associated school or college. Please refer to the section below for instructions on how to name the files and download our helpful naming tool.

How to name your students' files before submitting their entries

To make the submission process quick and easy for both students and teachers, we have simplified it to just one form submission per school or college. Before visiting the entry page, please ensure that each student's MP3 or .wav file is named correctly using the process outlined below.

[the initial of the student's first name]-[student's last name]-[category they are entering, either composer or producer]-[their age group, 15-16, 11-14, 15-16 or 17-18]-[school postcode]-[music piece name]

For example: J-SMITH-PRODUCER-15-16-YRU41T-DANCE MIX 1

We have created a handy spreadsheet that will help do this for you, simply click here to download it. 

Download file naming tool

Enter now

 

Need help with your entry?

If you require additional assistance with your entry, please do not hesitate to contact our team at info@musicfirst.co.uk. We will be happy to assist you with any queries and guide you through the process.

 

Entry requirements

Please read the entry requirements below carefully. Failure to meet the outlined criteria may result in disqualification of the entries.

  • It is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure that all entries meet the outlined criteria prior to submission.
  • Composer Category: Students submitting pieces under this category must submit original work which has not used any software-generated loops.
  • Producers Category: This category is intended for students to create music that may include software loops from their preferred DAW, but must also include some original material.
  • Entries must be no longer than 3 minutes.
  • Entries must be original, not previously premiered, and must not have received any awards in other competitions.
  • Arranged or adapted versions of previous works by the same composer that have been already released or published will not be accepted. Additionally, all entries must not infringe on copyright or other third-party rights.
  • Compositions that are intended to be submitted for GCSE, A Level or equivalent exams in 2023 will not be accepted.
  • All entries must be submitted as an audio recording in either an MP3 or .wav format. The MP3 or .wav file can be a mixdown from a DAW, a studio multi-track recording, a live desk capture, or an ambient recording.
  • Entries can be produced using any choice of software, however, as part of the Young Creative Musician Festival, we are providing schools and colleges with free access to Soundtrap for Education for the duration of the competition. (For full details please refer to page 6 of your competition guide).
  • Entrants can also include singing or rapping, either performed by the entrant or by others, in addition to their original composed or produced melody. The lyrics for any vocals must also be original and must not infringe on copyright or other third-party rights.
  • The music piece must be composed by a single individual. Pieces composed in collaboration will not be considered.

 

What are the judges looking for?

All submissions will be evaluated by a team of qualified musicians and educators based on the following criteria:

Composer category

Compositional technique:

  • Melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic elements
  • Form or structure (dependent on style of music)
  • Appropriate instrumentation

 

Musicality:

  • Effective use of expressive elements
  • Adherence to a particular style or genre

 

Originality:

  • Creativity
  • Stylistic individuality, or “voice”

 

Producer category

Producing skills:

  • Use of loops, samples, audio capture and effects processing
  • Use of electronic instruments (if used)
  • Studio/DAW skills e.g. automation, EQ, panning, mix etc.

 

Musicality:

  • Adherence to a particular style or genre
  • Understanding of balance, quality, sensitivity and impact

 

Originality:

  • Creativity
  • Stylistic individuality, or “voice”

Ready to submit your students' entries?

Click here to enter now