WAM Song of the Year 2012: Competition Now Open

WAM, The West Australian Music Industry Association, announces that entries to WAM Song of the Year 2012 are now open.

WAM Song of the Year is a prestigious songwriting competition open to unpublished West Australian songwriters of all ages and levels of experience, offering more than $30,000 in prizes.

Songwriters are invited to enter their original compositions in 16 categories, with this year's Grand Prize consisting of:

• $2,000 cash
• 3 contiguous days during the term (at a mutually convenient time) recording at Albert studios in Sydney, engineered by Wayne Connolly. Furthermore, Alberts Creative Services team will provide a mentoring session (total Grand Prize valued at approximately $5,000).
• Album distribution in China predominantly through mobile phone carriers courtesy of 88tc88
• Opportunity for a publishing deal with Perfect Pitch Publishing
• Online music course valued at $1,295 courtesy of Berkleemusic
• 1 mastering and mentoring session with producer/engineer James Hewgill
• 500 CDs pressed by DiskBank
• One NT2-A studio microphone, One M1 live microphone and a VideoMic Pro valued at $950 courtesy of R?DE Microphones
• Opportunity to perform at the 2013 WAMi Festival in Perth
• Inclusion of the winning song in the 2013 Kiss My WAMi compilation (conditions apply)

Category winners take home $500 cash and 1 day of recording with one of our Studio Partners. The winners of each category go into the judging for the Grand Prize.

WAM Song of the Year has been around for 23 years and WAM are proud to announce that the Mental Health Commission of WA is once again the presentation partner for the competition and the Mentally Healthy category sponsor. This special category allows songwriters to share songs dealing with positive messages relating to mental health. The message for WAM Song of the Year 2012 is again "Music talks about mental health, so can you."

WAM, in conjunction with Catch Music Inc and the Mental Health Commission of WA, will also run five free songwriting workshop in Hilton in May 2012, helping songwriters to write and record one song that encapsulates the message "Music talks about mental health, so can you."

Songwriters entering the competition will be able to have their songs critiqued by experienced industry judges, which offers a valuable opportunity to improve songwriting skills.

The awards night will take place on Thursday 11 October at the Fly By Night during Mental Health Week, helping to raise awareness of the benefits of creative activities such as songwriting to people's mental health. Support also comes from our major partners APRA|AMCOS and Headspace, the national youth mental health foundation.

For full competition details, please visit wam.asn.au/songoftheyear - entries close Monday 30 July 2012.