» Bubbles in the old backyard «

I was poking around the web the other day trying to find some reputable online songwriting challenges to participate in and thought I’d start building a list right here for future reference.

I think contests like this are cool for several reasons, some of which I’ll expand upon right now before we get to the official list.

For starters, they get your name in print in front of a few people. Even if people visiting the page are only there to hear a tune their friend asked them to check out and they don’t bother listening to your music, they’ll see your name and file that away in their memory banks, which will greatly improve your chances of being listened to the next time they stumble across your music elsewhere and ask themselves where they know your name from.

You also get some constructive and/or positive feedback from people from time to time, which can be very nice. You’ll get some trash talk once in a while too, but that’s a danger of taking things online; everyone gets to express their opinions, and some of these people are big, dumb, loudmouth jerks, just like in real life. Try not to let it get to you; some people take the nature of a bragging rights only competition too far. It’s just a bunch of people showing off their songwriting skills and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

Also, you get to explore different facets of your writing you may never have explored if not for the challenge put forth. Chances are I’d never write a klezmer tune based on a historical scandal if left to my own devices, but if I get involved in a challenge that asks for it I’ll have to push myself to see what I’m capable of.

Also, I seem to get extra inspired when I participate in one of these challenges. I’ve only participated in a couple so far, but each one I’ve tried has left me so inspired I end up writing a totally unrelated bonus song in the process. My Song of the Month for November is going to be one of these recent tunes.

Plus, you get an extra tune for your repertoire in the end. If you really apply yourself you’ll end up with more than a simple disposable novelty tune that could very well have a life outside the confines of the competition for which it was written.

So without any further ado, here’s my list of songwriting challenges, which I hope will grow over time:

• Song Fight – http://www.songfight.org/:
  To the best of my knowledge this is the longest running challenge and perhaps maybe the oldest. Every week or so, a new song title is posted, and anyone who wishes can write and record a song with that title and submit it for consideration by the deadline (usually a week after the title is first posted). Voting is open to the public who get to say whether or not they liked each term. You can give the thumbs up to everything if you so choose. After a week, the artist with the most songs is declared the winner and gets bragging rights.
• Masters of Song Fu
  - http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/category/masters-of-song-fu/:
  This one’s slightly different than Song Fight. This is run in two parts that run simultaneously as a limited number of challengers (first come, first served) battle it out while an invited group of masters do likewise, all writing to the same criteria. Each challenge goes a few rounds until there’s only one master and one challenger left to compete head to head. Public voting is limited to one vote for the challengers and one vote for the masters, so consider your ballot carefully.
• February Album Writing Month – http://fawm.org/:
  In the shortest month of the year, while everyone else reflects upon black history and groundhog shadows, a hardcore group of songwriters tries to pump out new tunes at the rate of one every other day. By the end of the month, participants should have 14 songs ready to record and make a decent album. I may consider this in a few years once my little guy is in school full time.
• 50 Songs / 90 Days Challenge – http://5090.fawm.org/:
  As if pumping 14 songs in February isn’t enough (some writers can’t even pump that out in a year), some of the FAWMers have blocked off three months in which to try to knock off a grand total of 50 songs. That’s right; a faster rate for a substantially longer time. I doubt I’ll ever try this one out, though. The timing is less than ideal for meas it starts in July, just as the kids are getting out of school, though I suppose it would be ideal if you were a public school teacher with no children of your own looking for something to keep you occupied for the summer.
• Sieve! Monthly Song Challenge – http://steviez.badlybent.ca/?cat=160
  This is a relatively new one I just discovered. It’s not a competition at all. The host of the podcast, Stevie Z., puts out a songwriting challenge (first one was write a country song about summer that includes the word bridge) and gives people a month to put something together. When all is said and done he puts out a podcast with all the submissions. He talks a fair bit and overuses the adjective “awesome,” but new music is new music, so who knows what you could discover in the process.

If you know of any that I’ve missed, by all means let me know (comment below) and I’ll get them on the official list. Thanks.