We have big news to share from our partners at the International Songwriting Competition (ISC). They recently announced their list of the winners for 2021!
New for this year
To mark and celebrate their 20th Anniversary, the ISC has upped the ante for participants in a big way! We’re talking $225,000 in cash and merchandise, which will be divvied up between 71 winners across 23 categories. The top winner of the Grand Prize will also receive a boost over previous years with more than $70,000 ($25,000 USD in cash and other prizes combined.)
As a prize partner, Play MPE is proud to support the winners of ISC with music promotion distribution prize packages! The Grand Prize, Founder’s Choice, Spotlight Awards, and First Place Category winners – as well as all the special promotions winners – will see their tracks distributed to verified tastemakers across the globe via Play MPE’s Caster!
2021’s Grand Prize Winner – Notelle
The top prize winner has been named as Notelle, aka Stephanie Middleton of Richmond, VA, USA. Her song “Sufjan Stevens” was selected by ISC’s panel of celebrity artists including Coldplay, Linkin Park, Tom Waits, Hozier, The Lumineers, NEEDTOBREATHE, Trevor Daniel, as well as top music industry executives. Way to go, Notelle!
Upon learning she had earned the Grand Prize, Notelle enthused, “There are very few moments that leave you speechless from joy. This moment for me will be one of them. I would never in my wildest dreams have imagined that a song I wrote alone in my car would have had this much of an impact on my pursuit of being a songwriter. ISC has given me the kind of opportunity and encouragement that I have never had before, and I will be forever grateful. What an unbelievable experience.”
Category Winners
Apart from the Grand Prize, ISC awarded winners in 23 categories representing an eclectic mix of music genres, plus the two additional special awards which were tacked on this year.
The Founder’s Choice Award went to Sean Murphy, for his song “The Troubled Tears Of Drury Road”. His composition was hand picked by the competition’s founder and listening committee.
The Spotlight Award, presented by ISC and SOCAN, was created to highlight one Canadian artist exemplifying songwriting excellence. The winner is the Juno award-winning Christian rock band The Color for their song “Bigger”.
Congratulations to these artists, and all the first place winners:
AAA (ADULT ALBUM ALTERNATIVE)
1ST PLACE – MAYLYN
Huntsville, AL, USA
AC (ADULT CONTEMPORARY)
1ST PLACE – clide
Berlin, Germany
AMERICANA
1ST PLACE – Crooked Sparrow
Arlington, VA, USA
BLUES
1ST PLACE – Chris Cain
San Jose, CA, USA
CHILDREN’S MUSIC
1ST PLACE – Lucy Kalantari And The Jazz Cats
Brooklyn, NY, USA
CHRISTIAN
1ST PLACE – Jon Guerra
Austin, TX, USA
COMEDY/NOVELTY
1ST PLACE – Pat Godwin
Dallas, PA, USA
COUNTRY
1ST PLACE – Carter Faith
Davidson, NC, US
EDM (ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC)
1ST PLACE – Ryan Shepherd
Toronto, ON, Canada
FOLK/SINGER-SONGWRITER
1ST PLACE – Alix Page
Costa Mesa, CA, USA
INSTRUMENTAL
1ST PLACE – Alicia Enstrom
Topeka, KS, USA
JAZZ
1ST PLACE – Thana Alexa
New York, NY, USA
LATIN
1ST PLACE – SOULFIA
Santiago, Chile
PERFORMANCE
1ST PLACE – Miss Emily
Kingston, ON, Canada
POP/TOP 40
1ST PLACE – San Joseph
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
R&B/HIP-HOP
1ST PLACE – IDMAN
Toronto, ON, Canada
ROCK
1ST PLACE – THE TWO ROMANS
Rome, Italy
TEEN
1ST PLACE – Bree Rusev
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
UNPUBLISHED
1ST PLACE – Jillian Steele
Long Island, NY, USA
UNSIGNED
1ST PLACE – Sahara Beck
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
WORLD
1ST PLACE – Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita
Camagúey, Cuba / Ziguinchor, Senegal
PEOPLES’ VOICE – Ricky Duran
Worcester, MA, USA
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The complete panel of 2021 judges includes:
Recording Artists: Coldplay; Tom Waits; Joe Hahn (Linkin Park); Jeremiah Fraites (The Lumineers); Hozier; Trevor Daniel; NEEDTOBREATHE; Tenille Townes; James Adam Shelley (American Authors); Kristian Bush (Sugarland); Laura Pausini; Parmalee; Lonnie Liston Smith; Cory Asbury; Blackbear; Sara Evans; Sidewalk Prophets; Steve Lillywhite; Nancy Wilson (Heart); Krewella; Glen Ballard; Dave Simonett (Trampled By Turtles); Danilo Perez; Above & Beyond; Oumou Sangaré; Jack DeJohnette; Parker Milsap; Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane); Dave Koz; Niko Moon; Sugaray Rayford; James McNally; Jordan St. Cyr; Don Bryant; Joe Louis Walker; Ashwin Batish; Carter Burwell; Nicholas Gunn (Limelght); and Jimmy Pardo (Comedian)
Industry Judges: Daniel Glass (President/Founder, Glassnote Records); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Richard Stumpf (CEO, Atlas Music Publishing); Ed Vetri (President, Wind-Up Records); David McTiernan (Senior Director, Artist & Label Relations, Vevo); Greg Johnson (VP of A&R, Columbia Records); Golnar Khosrowshahi (President, Reservoir Media Management); Will Speer (Managing Director, Magic Star Records/Sony); Nate Albert (EVP of A&R, Capitol Records); Kim Buie (VP of A&R, New West Records) Shawn Barron (VP of A&R, Motown); Dan Chalmers (Head Of Music, YouTube, EMEA); Kate Labrel (VP of A&R, Warner Records); Christopher Muller (Global Head of Music Partnerships, YouTube); Jacob Edgar (Founder, Cumbancha); Matt D’Arduini (Sr. VP of A&R /GM, Last Nite Records/Arista Records); Joel Timen (VP of A&R and Publishing, Curb/Word Entertainment); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment); Samantha Jervey (Director A&R, Capitol Christian Music Group); Julie Kertes (Editor/General Manager, Hot Diggity Media); Jacqueline Post (Head of Publishing, Connection Music Publishing); Kenny Weagly (Entertainment Executive); Ben Kramer (Global Lead, Artist and Label Development, Youtube); Leib Ostrow (Founder/CEO, Music For Little People); Katherine Dines (Advisory Board and Magic Penny Award Chair, Children’s Music Network); Claire S. Green (President, Parents’ Choice Foundation); Julia Beyer (Director, ARC Music Productions International); Benjamin Groff (President, Brill Building Music Publishing); Tamara Conniff (EVP, Roc Nation Music Publishing); Carl Caprioglio (Founder & CEO, Oglio Entertainment); and Elena Epstein (Director, National Parenting Product Awards)