It’s open to all, amateur or professional, in any musical style that can be performed acoustically. Open to all ages.

REGISTER YOUR ENTRY HERE

APPLICATIONS CLOSE  –  5 pm, Sunday 30 November 2025

The top 3 songs may be performed on the main stage in The Basin Triangle at the Festival - March 2026.

Prizes

• First Prize - $500
• Second Prize -  $200
• Third Prize - $100

How your song will be judged ...

The Basin Music Festival Committee will appoint a panel to judge the competition. The judges' decision will be final.

A minimum of 3 of judges will listen to and score all the entries. From these scores, a top ten list will be created. The remaining judges will then judge the top ten and the scores of all judges will be used to determine the top three finalists, and the winner.

Entry criteria ...

If you have the songwriting talent, but not the voice to do it justice, it is not necessary to perform the song yourself to win.

You want to enter more than one song, you need to enter each song separately using the online entry form - a fee is required for each song you submit.

Entry fee - $25.00 per song

Closing date – 5 pm, Sunday 30 November 2025

Entries must be made online via our website - apply here.

Rules to follow ...

"The Basin Music Festival Songwriting Competition" will be referred to as the "competition"

• All entries are to be made online.
• After your entry has been completed and your entry fee is paid, you will be contacted via email with details on where to send your song file. 
• Entries must be an MP3 audio only file (videos will not be accepted) and an accompanying file with the written lyrics.
• Recording is to be simple – vocal with one accompanying instrument eg guitar or keys. Full production with extra instrumentation or band recordings will not be accepted. This is to ensure the focus is on the song itself and to maintain a level playing field for all entries.
• The song must be original and a length of 3-4 minutes.
• Songwriters may submit more than one entry—a separate entry form and fee are required for each song.
• Members of The Basin Music Festival Association Committee (TBMF committee) are not eligible to enter the competition.
• Submitted physical media (containing music and text of lyrics) will become the property of The Basin Music Festival Association. Rights and ownership of the content remain with the author(s) according to "The Fine Print" below.
• The entrant(s) must be the original author(s) of the submitted song.
• Recordings and lyrics will be numbered before being submitted to judges so that, where possible, judges should be unaware of their authorship.
• An entrant with multiple entries may only win one of the top three prizes. ie if you enter 3 songs and one of them takes 1^st prize, the other entries can not receive 2^nd or 3^rd prizes.
• Entrants with songs selected in the final 3 of the competition may be invited to have their song performed at the festival. The performer(s) need not be the songwriter.
• Judging criteria – a minimum of 3 of judges will listen to and score all the entries. From these scores, a top ten list will be created. The remaining judges will then judge the top ten and the scores of all judges will be used to determine the top three finalists, and the winner.

The Fine Print

The contestant(s) and performer(s) agree to allow The Basin Music Festival Association, the right to use the entry recording, or a recording of the song during its performance at the festival, to promote The Basin Music Festival, without the need for payment of any kind. Apart from the use listed above, all rights for the song remain with the song’s author(s).

By entering the competition, you agree to the conditions herein and confirm:

The song I have submitted is my (“our” in the case of a collaboration) own original composition, and the song meets all the criteria listed above to be eligible for entry in The Basin Music Festival Songwriting Competition.