Music at the Museum Contest Rules

Music at the Museum Contest Rules & Guidelines

1) ELIGIBILITY

  • The contest is open to artists/bands who are 18 years of age or older on the date of song submission. Any entrant who is a minor in his or her jurisdiction of legal residence will be required to obtain and submit written permission from his or her parent or legal guardian to participate in the contest.
  • No purchase is required to enter.
  • Employees of NCMA, NC DNCR and PBS NC, their families, subsidiaries, and affiliates are not eligible.
  • For the purposes of the competition, a song must have both lyrics and music. All submitted songs must be original, that have been written or co-written by the entrant(s).
  • Co-writers are subject to the same eligibility criteria.
  • Artists from North Carolina are eligible to enter. However, all finalists selected to perform at the must pay for their own travel and lodging expenses.

2) SUBMISSION POLICY

  • Each entry must be an original, musical composition (“composition”) for which the contestant retains the copyright and authority to submit and perform the composition in the contest. The entrant will submit the entry via the contest form.

3) FINALIST AND WINNER SELECTION

Finalists:

The finalists will be selected from their video submissions by a panel of judges in the first round of judging.

Top 3 finalists per category are posted online and promotion begins for public voting on the final winners (the performances with the most ‘Thumbs Up’ win!)

Winners in each category are announced on June 7, 2021.

Winner:

NCMA will contact the winners in coordination with PBS NC to record and pre-production needs and planning for filmed performance.

4) NOTIFICATIONS & WAIVERS

– Selected winners will be notified by email and each winner must sign the Music Performance Agreement

(i) an affidavit confirming

(a) that the winner meets the contest eligibility requirements,

(b) that his or her composition is original, and

(c) that he or she owns the copyright in the composition,

(ii) a performance license and mechanical and synchronization licenses for audio and video recording rights; and

(iii) a publicity release (collectively, the “agreement”), all within 7 days of the notification date. The failure to sign and return the performance agreement or the submission of false or inaccurate information will result in immediate disqualification and an alternate winner will be selected for the applicable regional or general round.

Affidavits for winners under 18 years of age at the time of submission must be countersigned by a parent or legal guardian. All Affidavits are subject to verification by NCMA and its agents. Each contestant’s submission constitutes their permission to use their name, likeness, and voice for future advertising and publicity purposes without additional consideration.

5) RESTRICTIONS

This contest is void where prohibited. All federal, state, and local laws, regulations, rules, and ordinances apply.

  • Entries must be unpublished original songs.
  • Submissions will be submitted via a standard online form
  • Users must submit a complete application, a video performance and an intro video talking about themselves and their music (request horizontally shot footage).
  • Must be available 6/21-22 AND 7/19-20 for filming performance at NCMA
  • Must be an NC-based artist or band
  • Must be able to perform at least 15 minutes of original music.
  • Performance submissions should not be longer than 5 minutes.
  • Lyrics must be uploaded for closed captioning.
  • Must grant permissions for broadcast on PBS-NC and hosting on NCMA YouTube

6) EXPLANATION OF RIGHTS

  • The writer(s) retains all rights to submitted songs.
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