Terms and conditions
1 The Competition
1.1 Information on how to enter the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition (Competition), any forms, the Prize, and rules for redeeming the Prize form part of these terms and conditions. By submitting an entry in the Competition, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.
1.2 The Competition is a game of skill only. Chance plays no part in determining the winner.
1.3 Proceeds from the Competition go to Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia Limited (ABN 66 078 602 089).
2 Organiser
The Organiser of the Competition is Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia Limited (ABN 66 078 602 089) 109 Mulgoa Rd, Penrith NSW 2750, AUSTRALIA (Organiser).
3 Entrant Eligibility
3.1 Entry is open to individuals who are amateur or professional songwriters, regardless of nationality or country of residence, whether published or unpublished. Entry must be in the name of an individual (Entrant).
3.2 The Entrant must be the writer or a co-writer of each Song entered under his/her/their name.
3.3 Songs co-written by multiple writers are eligible for entry. Each Song may only be entered once, under the name of a single Entrant. It is the responsibility of the Entrant to divide any Prize with co-writers as appropriate. The Organiser will not be responsible for any disputes between co-writers.
3.4 Entrants who are under the age of 18 years old on the date of entry (Minor Entrant) must have parent or guardian approval to enter the Competition and the parent or guardian of the Minor Entrant must read and consent to these terms and conditions. The parent or guardian of a Minor Entrant may be required by the Organiser to enter into a further agreement as evidence of consent to the minor entering the Competition, or sign further documentation in the event that the Minor Entrant is the winner of the Competition.
3.5 As a condition of entry, the Entrant (or the parent or guardian of a Minor Entrant) must sign any documentation as, and in the form, required by the Organiser and entities associated with the Competition in their absolute discretion, including but not limited to a release and indemnity.
3.6 Employees of the Organiser (and their immediate families) are ineligible to enter.
4 Entries and Entry Fees
4.1 Each entry must be of an original musical work (and associated lyrics where applicable) written and composed by a human author or authors (Song) in recorded form, which will be individually judged in accordance with Clause 10.
4.2 Entrants may enter as many Songs as they wish, with each Song being a discrete entry for which a separate entry fee is payable. Each Song may only be entered once.
4.3 Entrants must enter online.
4.4 Entrants must follow the directions on the Competition online entry form at globalsongcomp.com and properly complete and submit an online entry form for each Song entered together with a recording of the Song in MP3 format and payment of the $50 AUD entry fee per Song entered. A currency equivalent entry fee may be provided.
4.5 Subject to Clause 13.4, all entry fees are non-refundable.
4.6 Entry fees do not constitute tax deductible donations for the purposes of Australian individual income tax returns.
4.7 The Organiser may verify the validity of entries including by checking works registration with relevant Performing Rights Organisation in each territory and may disqualify any Entrant for any reason at the Organiser’s sole discretion. An entry which does not comply with these terms and conditions is invalid. Incomplete, indecipherable or illegible will be deemed invalid.
4.8 It is the Entrant’s responsibility to ensure that the recording submitted in respect of each Song entered is complete and playable. The Organiser is not responsible for late, lost, damaged, misdirected, postage due, stolen, or misappropriated entries.
4.9 Subject to clause 8, all entry materials submitted (including entry forms and Song recordings) become the property of the Organiser on receipt and will not be returned to the Entrant. Copies of entry materials may be retained by the Organiser for promotional purposes in accordance with these terms and conditions. Otherwise, all entry materials will be destroyed by the Organiser after the Winners are announced.
4.10 Entering the Competition does not guarantee that an Entrant will win a Prize or derive any other benefit. The Organiser is not responsible in any way for the decisions, actions or conduct of the Judging Committee.
4.11 Songs that are the product of generative AI are ineligible for entry. The Organiser may use any means it sees fit in its absolute discretion, including third party software, to determine whether a Song is the product of generative AI, and any Song determined to be such a product will be excluded from the competition.
5 Incentive Conditions
5.1 The Organiser is offering an incentive to entrants who submit three Songs during the incentive period (Early Bird period), allowing the entrant a discount at point of payment for two Songs with the third Song at no cost.
5.2 The Early Bird incentive applies for the period of Tuesday 29 July, 2025 at 12am AEST and closes on Monday 25 August, 2025 at 11.59pm AEDT and provides each entrant with an entry in a trade promotion to access a prize of a Gibson Guitar valued $2,999.
5.3 At the conclusion of the Early Bird period, all entrants that have upload submissions of three Songs will be placed in a random draw with the winner selected and announced within 7 days. Winners will be published on the Vanda & Young global song comp website, and advised via email. The winner will also be promoted through Noro Music Therapy and competition partners social media channels.
5.4 The Organiser is also offering an incentive to entrants who submit a Song during two further incentive periods, allowing the entrant access to prizes valued at $1,299 and $1,399. The first of these incentives applies for the period of Tuesday 26 August, 2025 at 11.59pm AEDT and Monday 15 September at 11.59pm and provides each entrant with an entry in a trade promotion to access a prize of a Neumann TLM 102 studio microphone valued at $1,399. The second incentive applies for the period of Tuesday 16 September, 2025 at 12am AEDT and Monday 29 September at 11.59pm AEDT and provides each entrant with an entry in a trade promotion to access a prize of Neumann NDH30 headphones valued at $1,299.
5.3 At the conclusion of each incentive period, all entrants that have uploaded submissions of at least one Song will be placed in a random draw with the winner selected and announced within 7 days. Winners will be published on the Vanda & Young global song comp website, and advised via email. The winner will also be promoted through Noro Music Therapy and competition partners social media channels.
6 Competition Period
6.1 The Competition commences on Monday 29 July, 2025 at 12am AEST and closes on Monday 13 October, 2025 (Competition Period). The Organiser may change the Competition Period in its sole discretion and will not be liable for any changes to the Competition Period.
6.2 All entries must be received by the Organiser prior to the end of the Competition Period. Entries are deemed to be received at the time of receipt by the Organiser not the time of submission by the Entrant. The Organiser is not responsible for failure to receive any entry, whether for any cause beyond its control or otherwise.
7 Privacy
All details of the Entrant will be held in accordance with the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and the Organiser’s privacy policy which can be viewed at https://www.noro.org.au/privacy-policy/.
Any personal information of the Entrant will only be used for the purpose of the Competition. The Organiser will not, without the Entrant’s consent, disclose or permit access to the Entrant’s personal information other than for the purpose of this Competition.
8 Rights in Songs Entered
8.1 The Entrant, and all other relevant copyright owners, will retain any copyright they hold at the time of submission, and all other rights controlled by the Entrant or other rights holders in any Song entered in the Competition. For the avoidance of doubt, no copyright in any Song or any recording of the Song entered will be assigned to the Organiser by virtue of entering this Competition.
8.2 The Entrant grants the Organiser all rights necessary for the Organiser to use the Song and the recording of the Song for the purposes of the Competition, on a royalty free, perpetual basis, worldwide.
9 Licences, Warranties and Indemnities
9.1 By entering the Competition, the Entrant warrants to the Organiser in respect of each Song submitted in this Competition that:
(a) the Entrant is the author or co-author of the Song.
(b) the Entrant owns all or part of the copyright in the Song and the recording of the Song and is entitled to submit the Song and the recording as a part of and for the purposes of this Competition.
(c) The Entrant has, on the application, identified any other author or publisher that has an interest in the Song.
(d) The Song does not infringe the rights of any third party, including copyright, and all efforts have been taken to avoid any such infringement.
(e) He/she/they has obtained written permission from any co-writer or publisher controlling any rights in the entered Song.
(f) The Song is not offensive or defamatory, and is not otherwise contrary to law.
(g) The Song has been written by a human author or authors and is not the product of generative artificial intelligence.
9.2 By entering the Competition, the Entrant indemnifies and holds the Organiser harmless from and against any breach of the warranties contained in clause 9.1.
9.3 By entering the Competition, the Entrant agrees:
(a) That all Songs entered may be distributed to the Judging Committee who will be determining the Winners.
(b) That the Organiser may, in its sole discretion, take down any Song from any platform, or disqualify an Entrant for entering a Song that the Organiser believes to be offensive or defamatory, or believes may infringe the rights of any third party including copyright, or believes may be otherwise contrary to law or otherwise in breach of these terms and conditions.
(c) That should the Entrant’s Song be selected as a Winner, the Organiser shall have permission to reproduce and communicate that Song, as well as the right to use the Entrant’s name, likeness, and voice, and to identify the Entrant’s country of residence, and the names and likenesses, voice and country of residence of each co-author of the Song, solely for advertising and publicity purposes in connection with the Competition, as well as on the Organiser’s website and through its social media channels without additional compensation.
9.4 None of the Organiser, Judging Committee, or sponsors will be liable for:
(a) any loss, damage, payment or expense of any kind (including but not limited to indirect or consequential loss or damage caused by the Organiser’s or other party’s negligence), or personal injury or other damage suffered or sustained as a result of entering, judging, running, cancellation or acceptance, enjoyment or use of the Competition or the Prize (or part thereof), except for and to the extent any liability that cannot be excluded by law. The Entrant indemnifies the Organiser against all liabilities, losses, damages, costs and expenses (including all legal costs, whether incurred or awarded) suffered or incurred by the Organiser in relation to any breach by the Entrant of its obligations under these terms and conditions;
(b) the loss or destruction of any entry materials. Entrants should retain a copy of all materials submitted, including a copy of the recording of the Song; or
(c) any loss or damage of any kind (including but not limited to indirect or consequential loss or loss or damage caused by the Organiser’s or other party’s negligence) arising out of, or in connection with, the postponement or variation of the Competition or the Prize (or part thereof), subject to Clause 13.4.
9.5 Entrants indemnify, and hold the Organiser and Judging Committee harmless for any liability, damages, or claims for injury or loss to any person or property relating to, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, participation in the Competition.
10 Judging
10.1 The Organiser will appoint an external judging committee comprised of a number of high-profile music industry professionals (Judging Committee).
10.2 Each valid entry will initially be reviewed by the Organiser and judged on its merits to determine a shortlist of Songs for consideration by the Judging Committee (Shortlist).
10.3 Each Song on the Shortlist will be reviewed by the Judging Committee and judged on its merits to determine a single First Place Winner, Second Place Winner, Third Place Winner, Emerging Australasian Prize Winner, and ten recipients of Runner-up Prizes (together, Winners).
10.4 For the purposes of Clauses 10.2 and 10.3:
(a) Entries will be rendered anonymous and numbered prior to judging.
(b) Entries will be judged on melody, composition, originality, and lyrics, when applicable. Lyrics may be in any language. Production value and quality of performance will not be considered.
10.5 Judgement of entries is at the absolute discretion of the Organiser and Judging Committee. The decisions of the Organiser and Judging Committee with respect to the Competition are final and no correspondence will be entered into. The Judging Committee will not provide Entrants with feedback or a critique with respect to entered Songs.
11 Winners
11.1 The Organiser will endeavour to announce the Winners by Thursday 22 January, 2026 but will not be liable for any delays in the judging process.
11.2 The Winners will be notified by email or telephone. The Winners will also be posted on the website globalsongcomp.com
11.3 Entrants may, and the Winners will, be required to make a statutory declaration confirming their Song is original, does not infringe any copyright or any other rights of any third parties, was written by a human author or authors, and that all necessary permissions to enter the Song have been obtained. Provision by an Entrant of false information or the failure to sign, return or otherwise validly make that statutory declaration within the time period specified by the Organiser may result in that Entrant’s disqualification, revocation of any Prize awarded to that Entrant and a different Winner being selected if applicable.
11.4 If a winning Song is written by a Minor Entrant, the Prize, or part of the Prize, may be awarded to the Minor Entrant’s parent or guardian on their behalf at the discretion of the Organiser.
11.5 Winners (or their parent or guardian in the case of a Minor Entrant) may be required to sign a waiver of liability and indemnity in favour of the Organiser in respect the Prize, in a form determined by the Organiser.
11.6 An emerging songwriter is someone in the early stages of their professional career who is fully committed to their practice and ready to push ideas and artmaking in new directions. They are generally in the initial phase of building significant recognition, with a demonstrated original body of work, and are in the process of establishing a foothold in the music industry. Emerging songwriters generally have limited or no representation in the form of managers, agents and publishers. Unless the applicant has achieved a lot of early national success, an emerging artist is likely to have been honing their craft for less than 10 years, regardless of age.
12 Prize
12.1 Subject to Clause 13, the prize awarded to the Winners are as follows (Prize):
(a) The Entrant determined as the First Place Winner will receive AUD $50,000 to be paid into the Entrant’s nominated bank account.
(b) The Entrant determined as the Second Place Winner will receive AUD $10,000 to be paid into the Entrant’s nominated bank account.
(c) The Entrant determined as the Third Place Winner will receive AUD $5,000 to be paid into the Entrant’s nominated bank account.
(d) The Entrant determined as the AMPAL Emerging Australasian Songwriter Prize Winner will receive AUD $5,000 to be paid into the Entrant’s nominated bank account.
(e) Each Entrant determined as one of the ten emerging songwriters will receive AUD $1,000 to be paid into the Entrant’s nominated bank account.
12.2 The total cash prize is estimated to be valued up to AUD $80,000, plus a Gibson Guitar for the Early Bird incentive valued at up to $2,999, plus a Neumann TLM 102 studio microphone valued at up to $1,399 for the second incentive period, and Neumann NDH30 headphones valued at up to $1,299 for the third incentive period. The Prize values are correct at the time of printing, but no responsibility is accepted by the Organiser for any variation in the value of the Prize or part of the Prize. If, for any reason, the Prize, or part of the Prize, is not available or otherwise cannot be granted by the Organiser and has a value, the Organiser reserves the right to substitute the Prize, or part of the Prize, for a prize of similar value.
13 Prize Conditions
13.1 The applicable Prize will be awarded in full to the individual Entrant who submitted the Song for which a Prize was awarded. The subsequent division of that Prize among co-writers (if any) is the responsibility of that Entrant. The Organiser is not liable for any failure on the part of the Entrant to share the prize with co-writers.
13.2 The Prize is not transferable or exchangeable. The Organiser is not liable if the Winners cannot receive, accept or use any element of the Prize for any reason. The Prize (or any part of it) may be cancelled at the Organiser’s discretion if Winners attempt to transfer it other than to any co-writers of the winning Song.
13.3 The Organiser will not cover any costs in connection with the Winners’ enjoyment of the Prize other than those expressly stipulated above or on the Competition entry form. Without limiting anything else in these terms and conditions, the Winners are not entitled to any reimbursement of any kind as a result of entering the Competition or enjoying or participating in the Prize or part of the Prize. Any taxes payable in relation to the Prize are the sole responsibility of the Winners.
13.4 The Organiser reserves the right, in its absolute discretion, at any time during the Competition period, to vary, withdraw, postpone or cancel the Competition or Prize including without limitation, in circumstances where it cannot conduct the Competition or grant any part of the Prize for any reason beyond its control. In the event the Competition is cancelled in its entirety, Entrants will be refunded their entry fee in full.
13.5 The Organiser has the right to refuse to allow any Winner to be awarded all or part of the Prize, if the Organiser deems, in its discretion, that a Winner is not in an appropriate physical or mental condition to ensure the safety of the Winners or other parties involved, or the Organiser otherwise deems that it is not appropriate for the Winners to take part in all or part of the Prize for any reason.
14 Miscellaneous
14.1 If the Competition is not able to be run as planned due to any event beyond the Organiser’s reasonable control, the Organiser may cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Competition.
14.2 Failure by the Organiser to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights.
15 Governing Law
15.1 The Competition including these terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of New South Wales, Australia and all Entrants irrevocably and unconditionally agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales, Australia.