21ST ANNUAL NSAI SONG CONTEST PRESENTED BY MARTIN GUITARS AND STRINGS AND CMT

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• The official entry period for the 21st Annual NSAI Song Contest is September 1, 2020 at 12pm CDT through November 3, 2020 at 4pm CDT.

• To enter by mail, download this.
   

• This contest is open to amateur songwriters only.
   
• All genres of music are accepted and encouraged.
   
• The entry cost is $35 per song for NSAI members and $45 per song for all non-NSAI members.
• Multiple entries are accepted, but each submission requires its own entry fee.
• All entries must be postmarked by the contest deadline: November 3, 2020 at 4pm CDT.
   
• Judges are comprised of music industry professionals, award-winning songwriters and NSAI pro songwriters. Entries are judged based on lyrics, melody and composition. Performance and production will not be evaluated.
   
• Prizes are awarded to one (1) Grand Prize Winner, up to nine (9) Runners-Up, up to ten (10) Honorable Mentions, one (1) Lyric-Only Winner and one (1) Lyric-Only Runner-Up. All songs entered receive a personalized score sheet.
   
• Have questions about the contest? Click here for a list of FAQs.
   

Canadian-born and Nashville-based, Tenille Townes is an ACM Award-winning singer, songwriter and musician in the midst of a breakthrough year following the release of her acclaimed debut album, "The Lemonade Stand." Out now via Columbia Nashville in partnership with RCA Records, the album was produced by Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town) and consists of 12 songs all written by Townes. Since the release, Townes was named New Female Artist of the Year at the 55th ACM Awards and was the most nominated artist at this year's Canadian Country Music Association Awards, with six nominations. She is also the only female in Mediabase Canada history to achieve two No. 1 singles, with album tracks "Jersey on the Wall (I'm Just Asking)" and "Somebody's Daughter." Adding to an already notable career, Townes is a MusicRow 2020 Next Big Thing Artist, an iHeartCountry On the Verge artist and has raised over $2 million for charity through her annual Big Hearts for Big Kids fundraiser.

Joe London is a Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer who co-wrote Thomas Rhett's Grammy-nominated and BMI Country Song of the Year "Die a Happy Man" and co-produced Rhett's hit singles "Star of the Show" and "Craving You" featuring Maren Morris. He also co-wrote and co-produced on Rhett's Grammy-nominated album "Life Changes," including the No. 1 single "Sixteen." Joe co-wrote and produced Jason Derulo's single "Wiggle" featuring Snoop Dogg, Pitbull's "Fireball," Fifth Harmony's "BO$$," Sage the Gemini's "Now and Later," Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's "Speak to a Girl," Ally Brooke's "Low Key," Charlotte Lawrence's "Everybody Loves You," and Lizzo's "Fitness" and "Worship." Additionally, Joe co-wrote and co-produced Bomba Estereo's Grammy-nominated albums "Amanecer" and "Ayo."

Ross Golan is a multiplatinum songwriter, artist, podcast host and advocate. He studied music at the University of Southern California and has since released songs with artists including Maroon 5, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Lady A, Michael Buble, Selena Gomez, Keith Urban, Ariana Grande, Flo Rida, One Direction, Idina Menzel, Nelly, Demi Lovato, Jason Derulo, Meghan Trainor, CeeLo Green, 5 Seconds of Summer, Snoop Dogg, Gavin DeGraw, Colbie Caillat, Andy Grammer, James Blunt, Big Sean, Travis Barker, Lukas Graham and Skylar Grey, among many others. In 2016, he was named BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year.

As an artist, his concept album, "The Wrong Man" was released on Interscope Records in July 2019 and opened as a musical off-Broadway in October 2019.

His podcast, "And The Writer Is… with Ross Golan," has approximately 2 million downloads and has become the perennial songwriting podcast. Each episode is a conversation between Golan and a venerable songwriter discussing their journey in the music industry.

As an advocate, he co-authored the proposal to get songwriters added to the Album of the Year award at The Grammys. He has also been a leading voice in passing the Music Modernization Act alongside NSAI, SONA, NMPA and RIAA. He is the first songwriter added to the NMPA board in its 102-year history.

Brett James's songwriting career launched over 20 years ago when he dropped out of medical school and moved to Nashville in a 1982 Datsun with his acoustic guitar, a four-track recorder and a garbage bag stuffed with clothes. He initially struggled to make that dream a reality -- waiting tables, signing with and then being dropped by a record label and publisher -- but he eventually found his footing, writing hits for Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Kenny Chesney and Jason Aldean, and garnering producer credits for Taylor Swift, Jessica Simpson and Kip Moore, among others. Outside of Nashville, his songs were recorded by Nick Jonas, Backstreet Boys, will.i.am and many more. In all, over 500 of his songs have been recorded for albums with combined sales of more than 110 million copies. He co-wrote the opening theme for the television broadcast of Super Bowl LII, and he's been named ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year twice. After nearly two decades in the industry, James is releasing his own songs with two EPs, "I Am Now" and "Tell the People."

CMT urges users to refer to the Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and Terms of Use info before entering any of our sweepstakes or contests.

Please refer to the Terms and Conditions of the 21st Annual NSAI Song Contest before entering.

"And The Writer Is…" is a weekly podcast hosted and produced by award-winning songwriters Ross Golan and Joe London in association with Big Deal Music and Mega House Music.

Launched in January 2017, ATWI celebrates music and the people who compose the hits. Every week, Ross sits down with an acclaimed and venerable songwriter to intimately discuss what happens behind closed doors in the music industry.

Each interview is hosted by Golan and recorded by London. Golan explores the songwriting process, inspirations and pitfalls of some of today's hottest songwriters, like Charlie Puth, Jack Antonoff, Thomas Rhett, Babyface, Julia Michaels, Benny Blanco, Ricky Reed, Justin Tranter, Bebe Rexha, John Ryan, Andy Grammer, Mike Posner, Ashley Gorley, Desmond Child, Luke Laird and more.

Each hour-long episode is an insightful and often humorous look into the craft, lives and passions that only a fellow songwriter can reveal.

Anthem Entertainment is one of the world's leading independent music and entertainment content and services companies. It is comprised of a music publishing division, recorded-music label, production music division and a leading film and television audiovisual secondary rights management company. Anthem Entertainment operates offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Nashville and Toronto, with a team of approximately 200 dedicated industry professionals. Anthem supports artists, creates content and provides entertainment services around the world. As technology and entertainment evolve, Anthem works hard to create and maximize opportunities for their talent and clients. Their difference: an approach that combines the resources, power and reach of a major with the agility, entrepreneurism and soul of an indie. For more information, visit anthementertainment.com.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP's mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world's best-loved music, and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business -- from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With more than 750,000 members representing more than 11.5 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. Learn more and stay in touch at ascap.com, on Twitter and Instagram @ASCAP and at facebook.com/ascap.

Celebrating over 77 years of service to songwriters, composers, music publishers and businesses, Broadcast Music Inc. is a global leader in music rights management, serving as an advocate for the value of music. BMI represents the public performance rights in nearly 13 million musical works created and owned by more than 800,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. BMI negotiates music license agreements and distributes the fees it generates as royalties to its affiliated writers and publishers when their songs are performed in public. In 1939, BMI created a groundbreaking open-door policy, becoming the only performing rights organization to welcome and represent the creators of blues, jazz, country and American roots music. Today, the musical compositions in BMI's repertoire, from chart-toppers to perennial favorites, span all genres of music and are consistently among the most-performed hits of the year. For additional information and the latest BMI news, visit bmi.com, follow @BMI on Twitter or stay connected through Broadcast Music Inc.'s Facebook page. Sign up for BMI's The Weekly and receive our e-newsletter every Monday to stay up to date on all things music.

C. F. Martin & Co. has been inspiring musicians worldwide for nearly two centuries with their superior guitar and string products. Martin guitars and strings remain the choice for musicians around the world for their unrivaled quality, craftsmanship and tone. Throughout the company's long history, Martin products can be seen and heard across all genres of music and in all segments of pop culture, from concert and theater stages to television and movies.

Martin maintains an unwavering commitment to environmental sustainability and responsible manufacturing practices and is the first in the musical instrument industry to receive certified B Corporation status.

Martin continually drives the acoustic guitar market forward, introducing innovative features that have become standards across the industry. These groundbreaking innovations include the introduction of X-bracing, the 14-fret guitar and the "dreadnought"-size guitar.

Martin has also led innovations in strings, such as introducing the first high-tensile-strength steel-string core wire; the first nickel acoustic strings (Martin Retro); the proprietary Titanium Core strings; and now the groundbreaking Authentic Acoustic line, which offers unmatched stability, tone, comfort and longevity. Connect with Martin Guitars and Martin Strings on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube, and via martinguitar.com.

SESAC Performing Rights Organization is the second-oldest performing rights organization in the U.S. It drives efficiency in licensing for music users and enhances value for its affiliated writers, publishers and composers by providing timely, efficient royalty collection and distribution. SESAC represents over 30,000 songwriters and film composers from a broad range of genres including artists such as Adele, Christophe Beck, Rosanne Cash, David Crosby, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Lalah Hathaway, Kesha, Gabriel Mann and many more. SESAC is a leader and innovator in music licensing that administers public performance, mechanical and other rights through SESAC PRO and its affiliates including the Harry Fox Agency, Rumblefish and Mint Digital Services. SESAC Holdings has offices in New York, Nashville, Los Angeles, London and Munich. For the latest news and updates, visit sesac.com and stay connected with SESAC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

We Make Tapes & Discs is the longest-standing provider of CD, DVD and USB duplication, replication, packaging and printing in Music City. Whether you need a quick digital transfer or 50,000 packaged units, you will receive top notch service every time. WMTD also offers graphic design services, die-cutting and many types of general printing, including promotional posters, business cards and laminate badges. Ask us about our short-run Vinyl Packages. Visit wemaketapes.com to start your project today.