Hazel Dickens Songwriting Contest – Rules and How To Enter

Contest Rules

Prizes will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. Prizes are awarded jointly to all co-authors; the award will be sent to the author whose name and address is on the entry form. Division of prize money among co-authors is the responsibility of winners.
- 1st place: $500
- 2nd place: $250
- 3rd place: $100

Entries will be judged by a 3-judge panel of bluegrass/songwriting industry leaders whose identities will be made public when winners are announced. Please know that all submissions are duly listened to and treated fairly by our volunteer judges. All entries will be judged on originality, lyrics and melody. Music production and performance quality are not considered in the judging process. All decisions by judges are final.
Contestant authors retain all rights to their work.

The Hazel Dickens Song Contest will accept entries beginning October 30, 2023.
The entry deadline is midnight on January 7, 2024. All online entries and entry fee payments must be received by this time, and all entry fees submitted by mail must be postmarked no later than January 7, 2024.
The top 3 winners will be announced February 18, 2024.

The Hazel Dickens Songwriting Contest is open to all whose primary source of income (50 percent or more) is not derived from songwriting or music publishing. Income from performances is not considered songwriting income.
All entries must be the original work of contestants and shall not infringe on any copyright or any other rights of any third party. Contestants may enter as many songs as desired.
All songs submitted must be in the bluegrass genre (including gospel). No instrumentals, please.
Each entry must consist of an audio file of a vocal performance and an accompanying text file containing the written lyrics; instrumental accompaniment on recordings is encouraged but not required. Lyrics should be recorded and written in English.