International Song For Kindness Terms and Conditions

1) ELIGIBILITY

• The contest is open to songwriters who are 18 years of age or older on the date of song submission. Any entrant who is a minor in his or her jurisdiction of legal residence will be required to obtain and submit written permission from his or her parent or legal guardian to participate in the contest.
• For the purposes of the competition, a song must have both lyrics and music. All submitted songs must be original, unpublished (or self-published) songs that have been written or co-written by the entrant(s).
• For competition purposes, an unpublished song is defined as being recorded and self-released by the entrant(s) and/or not co-published by a commercially active music publisher.
• if the submission is a band then the maximum number of people in the band can be up to a maximum of 4 people
• Co-writers are subject to the same eligibility criteria.
• Artists from anywhere in the world are eligible to enter.

2) SUBMISSION POLICY

• Each entry must be an original, unpublished musical composition (“composition”) for which the contestant retains the copyright and authority to submit and perform the composition in the contest.  TuffM and TUFF.EARTH are not responsible and disclaims any liability for late, lost, damaged, misdirected, postage-due, stolen, or misappropriated entries or for any errors in online submissions, including, but not limited to unsuccessful file uploads. Materials submitted will not be returned and TuffM and TUFF.EARTH reserve the right to dispose of all submitted material in any manner.
• The competition close date will be the  3st July 

3) COSTS TO ENTER

• Entries are free to enter

4) HOW TO SUBMIT TO THE 2021 International Song For Kindness

ONLINE: HERE

5) FINALIST AND WINNER SELECTION

Finalists:

The top 50 submissions will be chosen by a panel of judges and public voting will also weigh in on the decision; these will be announced on August 29th. The Top 10 contestants will be announced on September 2nd. The winner will be announced on October 9th at the live final event with the top ten finalists performing live and remotely.

Winner:

Judges will select one of the ten finalists to return to perform at the Cavern club and receive a day at the recording studio subject to covid restrictions.  There will also be a winner selected from all entries submitted from Australia.

6) THE FINALS 

• Subject to covid restrictions all finalists chosen to perform on the live final at The Cavern Club, Liverpool, must pay for their own travel to and from the Live final event. In the event you can’t travel to the live final then we will arrange for a remote live stream of the finalist performing which will be streamed on stage at the cavern club.
• a single accompanist may sing along with you, play an instrument, or both.
• The International Song for Kindness Contest Final is judged on the strength of both the lyrics and the music. 
• The format for the finals is as follows: each of the ten finalists will perform the  original song submitted to the contest in front of a panel of judges and a live audience. From the ten semifinalists, the overall winner will then be selected.

7) PRIZES

Subject to covid restrictions – The prize for the International Song For Kindness winning entry will receive flights to Liverpool, if the winner lives outside of the uk. They will receive three nights accommodation in liverpool and a day recording at the Motor Museum recording studio with TUFFM head of music Daniel Xander. They will also perform on stage for one event at the Cavern Club Subject to Covid 19 restrictions.

There is also a prize for the winner of all Australian Entries. The winning submission of all entries submitted from the country of Australia will receive travel and accommodation to Airlie beach and perform at the Airlie beach music festival

8) NOTIFICATIONS & WAIVERS

– Selected finalists will be notified by email and each winner must provide the following items to be eligible to compete in the International Song Contest finals:

(i) an affidavit confirming

(a) that the winner meets the contest eligibility requirements,

(b) that his or her composition is original and unpublished, and

(c) that he or she owns the copyright in the composition;

(ii) a performance license and mechanical and synchronization licenses for audio and video recording rights; and

(iii) a publicity release (collectively, the “Affidavit”), all within 14 days of the notification date. The failure to sign and return the Affidavit within Fourteen (14) Days or the submission of false or inaccurate information will result in immediate disqualification and an alternate winner will be selected for the applicable regional or general round. Affidavits for winners under 18 years of age at the time of submission must be countersigned by a parent or legal guardian. All Affidavits are subject to verification by TUFFM and TUFF.EARTH and its agents. Each contestant’s submission constitutes his or her permission to use his or her name, likeness, and voice for future advertising and publicity purposes without additional consideration.

TUFFM and TUFF.EARTH retain the exclusive right to use in perpetuity any media inclusive of ancillary rights created in conjunction with the International Song for Kindness including but not limited to; live recordings, video, webisodes, and photographs, social media posts, workshops. Participants grant TUFFM and TUFF.EARTH the use of this archival material in perpetuity.

9) RESTRICTIONS

This contest is void where prohibited. All federal, state, and local laws, regulations, rules, and ordinances apply.

• Entries must be unpublished original songs.
• Submissions are not subject to a time limit. But if you are selected as one of our eight finalists, your live performance of one original songs on the finals contest stage must meet a strict six (6) minute limit or you will be penalized.
• The song MUST be performed by the song contest entrant. Songs that have been recorded with more than one backing musician can be submitted — for example, sending in a cut from a CD with multiple players. But remember, should you advance and perform live, you will only be allowed one backing musician on stage. This accompanist may play an instrument(s) and/or sing backup.
• Co-written songs may be submitted
• IMPORTANT POINT: Though co-writers will be acknowledged, only the performer of the tune can qualify to win the prize.

10) EXPLANATION OF RIGHTS

• The writer(s) retains all rights to submitted songs