The International Songwriting Competition (ISC), widely recognized as the world's most prestigious and respected songwriting competition, has today announced its 2013 winners. Almost 20,000 entries were submitted, and once again, UK artists have excelled in the competition. UK songwriters have garnered three First Place wins, one Second Place win, one Third Place win, and 21 Honorable Mentions. See below for a list of all UK winners.
Established in 2002, ISC awards more than $150,000 in cash and prizes to amateur and professional songwriters around the world. Past ISC winners include Gotye, Bastille, The Band Perry, Passenger, Kasey Chambers, Gin Wigmore, King Charles, Lindsey Stirling, Kimbra, Andrew Bird, and many more.
Winners were selected by a panel of judges which included, among others, Imagine Dragons, Martina McBride, Joshua Redman, Josh Turner, Keane, Garbage, Dido, Jon Secada, Darryl McDaniels (Run D.M.C.), James Cotton, Boney James, Jason Isbell, and Anoushka Shankar. Judges also included the top echelon of music industry executives, including Monte Lipman (Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, Republic Records), Dan McCarroll (President, Warner Bros. Records), Alison Donald (Co-President, Columbia Records UK) and many more.
Founder and Director Candace Avery states, "We are proud that so many UK artists have done so well in ISC, and we have come to expect an unusually high level of songwriting from them. Many of our previous winners, including Passenger and Bastille, have gone on to great success, and we look forward to seeing what will happen with this year's group of UK winners."
The 2013 Grand Prize is awarded to a Japanese artist: jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger Shunzo Ohno for his song "Musashi." This is the first time in ISC's 13-year history that the Grand Prize has been awarded to either a songwriter in the Jazz category or an artist from Japan.
One of the leading jazz trumpet players in his native Japan by the age of 19, Shunzo Ohno moved to New York City in 1974 to perform with jazz legend Art Blakey & The Messengers. Since then, he has performed and toured with many of the world's greatest jazz artists, including Art Blakey, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Gil Evans, Larry Coryell, Machito & His Afro-Cuban Orchestra, and many more. With numerous recordings under his own name as a leader, he has also appeared on over 30 more as a sideman and has collaborated on two Grammy winning recordings. Surviving both a serious car accident in which his teeth and lips were permanently damaged and a later bout of throat cancer which forced him to relearn his playing, he is a testament to determination and courage, even inspiring a biography and documentary in Japan about his life.
For a more in-depth bio, please go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/pressreleases
ISC is sponsored by: Presonus, Lowden Guitars, Marshall Amplification, Solid State Logic, Berklee College Of Music, Mrs. Fields Cookies, Airplay Direct, D'Addario, DiscMakers, Thayers, SongU.com, Sonicbids, The Music Business Registry, Indie Venue Bible, Celebrity Access, Tunecore, Independent Mastering, George Stein, Esq., Songtrust, and Taxi.
ISC is now accepting entries for 2014. More information can be found at: http://www.songwritingcompetition.com.
For a complete list of 2013 ISC winners and to hear the winning songs, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners
To download low-res photos of all winners, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners
For high-res photos, please contact Candace Avery at cavery@songwritingcompetition.com
UK winners include:
First Place Winners:
"It's Not Over" - Richard Pilkington, Jack Jenkins (London, England) - Dance/Electronica "Moonsea" - Phildel (London, England) - Pop/Top 40 "Muscles And Bones" - Esmay Luck, Max Luck (The Luck), Richard Darbyshire (London, England) - Adult Contemporary (AC)
Second Place Winners
"Warriors" - Tomas Twyman / CoCo And The Butterfields (Canterbury, England) - Unsigned Only
Third Place Winners
"Shields Of Fire" - Niamh Murphy / Foxglove (Cork, Ireland)
Honorable Mentions
"Building Castles" - Astir (London, England) - Pop/Top 40 "Building Castles" - Astir (London, England) - Unsigned Only "Here With Me" - Robert Gillies (Stirling, Scotland) - Music Video "Hero" - Mon Frere (Brighton, England) - Dance/Electronica "In Her Arms When I Died" - Bryan Tess (Tralee, Ireland) - Lyrics Only "In Lieu Of You" - Paul Creane / Paul Creane & The Changing Band (Wexford, Ireland) - Americana "Love Storm" - Eamonn Lindsay, Tia Peyton, Conan Lindsay, Bradley Jackson / Dr Teddy De Love (Dublin, Ireland) - Dance/Electronica "My Juliet" - Gavin Dean / The Deans (Galway, Ireland) - Rock "Let Yourself" - Martyn Joseph (Cardiff, Wales) - Folk/Singer-Songwriter "Louie" - James Mullally / Bearbones (Athlone, Ireland) - Rock "Louie" - James Mullally / Bearbones (Athlone, Ireland) - Unsigned Only "The Man Flu" - Roberto Cassani (Perth, Scotland) - Comedy "Muscles And Bones" - Esmay Luck, Max Luck (The Luck), Richard Darbyshire (London, England) - Unsigned Only) "My Favourite Time Of Year" - Leigh Haggerwood / The Florin Street Band (Bath, England) - Music Video "Rock-A-Bye" - Ray Clayton (London, England) - R&B/Hip-Hop "Smoke & Wine" - Oliver Baines / Flight Brigade (London, England) - Music Video "Smoke & Wine" - Oliver Baines / Flight Brigade (London, England) - Unsigned Only "Take My Crown" - Acer (Leicester, England) - R&B/Hip-Hop "The Way You Are" - Pete Hickman (London, England) - Rock "Two Worlds Collide" - Ed Dampier (Leicester, England) - Instrumental "You Ain't Coming Home" - Paul Turley, Paul Muir / Albany Down (London, England) - Blues
ISC is sponsored by: Presonus, Lowden Guitars, Marshall Amplification, Solid State Logic, Berklee College Of Music, Mrs. Fields Cookies, Airplay Direct, D'Addario, DiscMakers, Thayers, SongU.com, Sonicbids, The Music Business Registry, Indie Venue Bible, Celebrity Access, Tunecore, Independent Mastering, George Stein, Esq., Songtrust, and Taxi.
For a complete list of 2013 ISC winners and to hear the winning songs, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners
To download low-res photos of all winners, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners
