How to Enter
DEADLINE: Friday 8 January 2010
Click here to download a PDF copy of the the guidance notes and access the online entry form or read the details below
New Music Award Information and Entry Form
Can I enter the competition?
Anyone can enter. Ideas can be presented by individuals, groups, organisations or venues.
What is the New Music Award looking for?
The New Music Award is for those individuals or organisations who are pushing the boundaries of new music in any genre, who are taking artistic risks and producing exceptional work. It does not necessarily reflect the most frequently-heard music today, but points a way towards a future musical world. It seeks out inspiring, challenging, pioneering and creatively-adventurous music.
To be in with a chance of winning, your idea must:
- be an original piece of new music, yet to be created
- be ambitious, inspiring, creative and of the highest possible quality
- challenge the boundaries of musical performance in the UK today
- have at least one guaranteed live public performance in the UK
- have the potential to create a lasting musical impact and reach a significant number of people
- be created by music creator/s (e.g. composers/songwriters/producers) living and working in the UK
We are looking for ideas involving any genre of music, and the live performance can be presented in any context. The proposal can be a collaboration with any other art form, but there must be a clear focus on music.
We would like to see a wide range of entries from across the spectrum of the music world. We are looking for ambitious and imaginative proposals. Any project that rises to this challenge will be considered.
What’s the process?
First, tell us briefly about your idea. We expect to have a large number of proposals, of which only one will win the New Music Award. Therefore, to avoid lots of additional work for you, this first stage is deliberately brief.
You need to tell us when, where and with whom the first performance will take place, and be able to describe why it should win the New Music Award. The deadline for this is 8 January 2010.
From these proposals, we will select a long-list for the New Music Award. If you have been chosen, we will contact you for further details about your idea by 8 February 2010. This information will need to be submitted by the end of March 2010.
With this new information, a panel of judges, which will include experts in music and contemporary culture, will decide on a short-list of approximately 6 entries by the end of April 2010.
We are also planning to stimulate a public vote by distributing short films online and in a number of partner venues across the UK. Films will be made about each of the short-listed entries so that we can raise the profile of these ideas and pioneering music in the UK.
The final decision on the winner of the New Music Award will be made by the panel of judges and announced in September 2010.
The work must be completed and performed publicly by December 2011.
What does PRSF need to know?
This is an unrestricted creative opportunity. The final decision will be made on artistic criteria. To help us to do this, please use the online entry form to provide the following information:
A brief overview of your idea (1 side of A4), including:
- the concept - a description of what the idea will sound like and how it will be created.
- the details - who is the music creator? When, where and who will perform it? This must be a firm commitment.
- why your idea should win the New Music Award. Remember, the judges will make the final decision on an artistic basis, using the criteria listed in “What is the New Music Award looking for?”
- Short details/biographies of the key people or organisations involved in the idea (1 side of A4)
- A draft budget, showing how you will use up to £50,000 to realise the project (1 side of A4)
Important notes
Please do not send us more information than we've asked for. We're expecting a large number of strong ideas, so please note that:
- We want to remain impartial so won't be able to discuss your idea before or after it is submitted. Please don't call us to discuss your proposal.
- If you miss the deadline, we cannot consider your entry
- We can only respond to you if your idea has been long-listed
- We will not be able to give feedback
- We cannot return submitted material, so please don't send us anything which you will need back.