12th Annual NSAI Song Contest Presented by CMT

Don't miss your LAST CHANCE to submit to the NSAI Song Contest presented by CMT. NSAI boasts new, exciting prizes designed to help amateur songwriters on their road to becoming a professional songwriter.



Prizes include a 3-day trip to Nashville, a professionally recorded demo and a mentoring session with Charlie Daniels.



The contest is open to all genres of music and all songs entered receive a judging report. Music industry executives, professional songwriters and NSAI board members judge songs based on lyrics, melody and composition./n/nThe NSAI Song Contest, presented by CMT, is in its 12th year and boasts exciting prizes designed to help amateur songwriters on their road to becoming professionals. The contest is open to all genres of music and all songs entered receive a judging report. Music industry executives, professional songwriters and NSAI board members judge songs based on lyrics, melody and composition. Any artists who submit from now through Friday are also entered to win a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0.



The 12th NSAI Song Contest will declare one (1) Grand Prize Winner, one (1) CMT Listeners' Choice Winner, and one (1) Lyric-only Winner, and ten(10) prize winning runners-up. The Grand Prize Winner will receive a mentoring session with legendary songwriter Charlie Daniels, a 3 day trip to Nashville (hotel and air included), a professional demo of the winning single recorded in Parlor Studios, as well as performances, networking opportunities, tickets, free gear, and more.


This year NSAI is offering their first ever Lyric Only Songwriting Category and will be bringing back the CMT Listeners' Choice Award. From February 1 - February 28, 2012, the Top 10 finalists (excluding the grand prize winner) will be posted at www.nsai.cmt.com where fans can listen to the finalists' demos and vote for their favorite song. The song with the most audience votes will be the CMT Listeners' Choice Award winner. The contest has received over 450,000 votes in previous years.



Charlie Daniels, who will be hold a mentoring session with the grand prize winner, is known for his fiddle playing and is a Grammy award winning music icon that has been performing and writing songs for over 50 years. His style is an exhilarating mixture of rock, country, bluegrass, blues, and gospel. As a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry, Charlie regularly performs on the Opry sharing the stage with fellow Opry Members. He is a member of the Musicians’ Hall of Fame, and was honored with a star on Music City’s Walk of Fame.







The Grand Prize winner of NSAI Song Contest will receive:

• Sixty minute mentoring session with legendary songwriter and artist Charlie Daniels.


• Two tickets and backstage passes to a Charlie Daniel’s Band 2012 show of your choice*


• Your song pitched to music industry executives through our Winners Compilation CD for one year.


• NSAI Songwriter Networking Program, which includes one-on-one mentoring session opportunities with award-winning professional songwriters; expert advice on how songwriters can generate income and appointments with major music publishers, record label A&R reps and more.


• Three-day trip to Nashville, TN including accommodations by Hilton Garden Inn (limited to US travel within the 50 continental states and only in cities serviced by American Airlines). If the winner’s legal residence is within 250 miles of Nashville, TN, only hotel accommodations will be awarded.


• Professional single-song demo of winning song recorded and produced at Parlor Studios on Music Row with professional singers, musicians and producers.


• Invitation to perform winning song on stage before a live audience during 2012 Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival.


• Opportunity to perform at The Bluebird Café.


• Two tickets to the 2012 CMT Music Awards or something equivalent*.


• Private tour of CMT studios in Nashville, TN*.


• CMT Prize Pack.


• Gibson acoustic guitar.


• Elixir guitar strings.


• Feature interview and premier of the winning song on The Boot as well as cross promote to AOL Music.


• SHURE microphone.


• PitchTubes video session, provided by Parlor Studios.


• Olympus audio recording device.


• NSAI event gift certificate.


• NSAI membership (one year).


• American Songwriter magazine subscription (one year).


• Sprint smartphone or other device of your choice with 10% off your monthly service.


• Sonicbids six-month subscription.


• Certificate of Achievement.

CMT Listeners' Choice Award Winner will receive:

• Mentoring session with a major music publisher.


• Your song pitched to music industry executives through our Winners Compilation CD for one year.


• Three-day trip to Nashville, TN, including accommodations by Hilton Garden Inn (limited to US travel
  within the 50 continental states and only in cities serviced by American Airlines). If the winner’s legal residence is within 250 miles of Nashville, TN, only hotel accommodations will be
  awarded.


• Professional single-song demo of winning song recorded and produced at Parlor Studios on
  Music Row with professional singers, musicians and producers.


• Sixty minute, three song consultation with Jay Frank (SVP of Music Strategy-CMT) along with his book “Future Hit DNA”.


• Two tickets to the 2012 CMT Music Awards or something equivalent*.


• Private tour of CMT studios in Nashville, TN*.


• CMT Prize Pack.


• SHURE microphone.


• NSAI event gift certificate.


• NSAI membership (one year).


• American Songwriter magazine subscription (one- year).


• Sprint smartphone or other device of your choice with 10% off your monthly service.


• Sonicbids six-month subscription.


• Certificate of Achievement.

Lyric-Only Winner:

• Mentoring session with Tia Sillers and Dottie Moore. Tia Sillers has penned huge hits like "There's Your Trouble" by the Dixie Chicks and "Blue on Black" with Kenny Wayne Shepherd, which held the top spot on the rock charts for 17 weeks and named Billboard Rock Song of the Year. Dottie Moore has penned many hits including "Mile Out of Memphis", which has been recorded by numerous artists including Carl Perkins. See Rules and Regulations #11.


• NSAI event gift certificate


• NSAI membership (one year)


• Sprint smartphone or other device of your choice with 10% off your monthly service


• American Songwriter discount (one year)


• Interview with American Songwriter and article posted on website

Ten Runners-Up receive:

• Meeting with a major music publisher.


• Your song pitched to music industry execs through our Winners Compilation CD for one year.


• SHURE microphone.


• NSAI event gift certificate.


• NSAI membership (one year).


• American Songwriter magazine discount.


• Sonicbids six-month subscription.


• Certificate of Achievement.

Honorable Mentions receive Certificate of Achievement.

All Entrants receive a personalized judging report.



The NSAI Song Contest is presented by CMT. Prize sponsors include American Airlines, American Songwriter, ASCAP, Best Built Songs, Black River Entertainment, BMI, Cotton Valley Records, Effusion Entertainment, Elixir, Hilton Garden Inn, Gibson Guitar, Magic Mustang Music, Olympus, The Parlor Studio, Roots Three Music, SESAC, SHURE Micro