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The Lyric-Only winner will receive a mentoring session with hit songwriter LORI McKENNA, a Martin Sustainable Wood OME cherry Acoustic Electric guitar and strings, access to one (1) NSAI premium event, a pass to the 2019 Music Biz Conference in Nashville, TN, along with additional prizes. All entrants will receive a personalized score sheet.

To determine the winner for the Grand Prize, all eligible submissions received by NSAI will be judged by music industry professionals, who in Round three (3) judging, will select the top eleven (11) finalists and ten (10) honorable mentions. In February of 2019, the finalist submissions will be judged during a live-streamed event where an elite music industry-based panel will score each submission, with the highest score receiving the Grand Prize, and the other ten (10) finalist submissions will receive Runners-Up awards. The Lyric-Only judging will follow the same process until Round three (3) judging where two (2) submissions will be selected, one as the Lyric-Only award recipient and the other as the Lyric-Only Runner-Up.

Beginning August 31, 2018 at 12:00pm CDST, entries can be submitted online at nsai.cmt.com or they can be mailed to the NSAI office (NSAI–ATTN: Song Contest, 1710 Roy Acuff Place, Nashville, TN 37203). All entries mailed in must include the submission form, entry fee, printed lyric sheet, and one (1) audio CD (unless a Lyric-Only entry). Entry fees are $35 per song for current NSAI members and $45 per song for non-NSAI members. There is no limit to the number of songs that songwriters can submit, and all submissions must be post-marked by 12:00pm CDST on October 31, 2018.

For further details, including additional information on submitting songs, an official list of prizes, the Terms and Conditions and contest updates, visit nsai.cmt.com beginning August 31. Updates will also be posted periodically at www.nashvillesongwriters.com and NSAI’s Official Facebook and Twitter pages (@NSAIOfficial).

Sponsors: Special thanks to ASCAP, BMI, CMT, Martin Guitar and Strings, ole, SESAC, Southwest Airlines®, and We Make Tapes & Discs.

• This contest is open to amateur songwriters only.
• All genres of music are accepted and encouraged.
• The entry cost is $35 per song for NSAI members and $45 per song for all non-NSAI members.
• Multiple entries are accepted.
• All entries must be postmarked by the CONTEST DEADLINE: 12:00 pm CDST October 31, 2018 (6:00pm UK time on October 31, 2018).
• Judges are comprised of Music Industry Professionals and Professional Songwriters. Songs are judged based on lyrics, melody and composition. Performance and production will not be evaluated on Song category submissions.
• Prizes are awarded to one (1 Grand Prize Winner, one (1) Lyric-Only Winner, one (1) Lyric-Only Runner Up, ten (10) Runners-Up, and ten (10) Honorable Mentions. All songs entered receive a personalized score sheet.

ABOUT CRAIG WISEMAN
From Craig Wiseman’s early days of writing and drumming in Hattiesburg, MS to being crowned Songwriter of the Century by ASCAP, he has created for himself a monumental platform in country music. As the writer of songs including Brooks and Dunn’s “Believe” to Blake Shelton’s “Boys ‘Round Here”, Wiseman has amassed over 300 cuts, 100 singles, and 27 #1’s.

After moving to Nashville in 1985, he received his first chart success after having co-written Roy Orbison’s “The Only One”. In 1990, Wiseman signed his first publishing deal with Almo/Irving Music then later signed with BMG Music Publishing. In 2003, Wiseman opened his own publishing company, and within the first year of its operation, Wiseman experienced the first single of the catalog; “Live Like You Were Dying” by Tim McGraw not only peaked at the top of the charts for ten weeks, but it also was named NSAI Song of the Year, CMA Song of the Year, ACM Song of the Year and won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song.

Not only was Wiseman proclaimed ASCAP’s “Songwriter of the Year” in 2003, 2005, and 2007 and “Writer of the Year” by NSAI and Music Row in 1997, but he was named NSAI’s “Songwriter of the Decade” in 2009 and won the 2014 Heritage Award from ASCAP as the most performed country songwriter of the century. In 2017, Wiseman was awarded with his first CMA Triple Play Award for having three #1 hits within a year time frame.

For the past 14 years, Wiseman has hosted The Stars of Second Harvest Showat the Ryman; to date, this event has raised $1,200,000 for Second Harvest Food Band Of Middle Tennessee.  After years of success, accomplishments and hard work, Wiseman was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in October 2015.

ABOUT LORI McKENNA
Home and the people who make it have captivated Lori McKenna for years. Over the last three decades, as she became a wife and mother of five, she has also emerged as one of the most respected, prolific singer-songwriters in popular music. Her 2016 release The Bird and the Rifle netted three Grammy nominations, along with Americana Music Association nods––all firsts for McKenna as an artist. Then, she made history: In 2016, she became the first woman ever to win the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year two years in a row thanks to co-writing Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush”and penning Tim McGraw’s no. 1 “Humble and Kind”solo. Both songs also clinched back-to-back Grammy wins for Best Country Song. In 2017, she became the Academy of Country Music’s first female Songwriter of the Year. The Tree is her much-anticipated eleventh studio album. Produced by Dave Cobb, The Tree takes one of McKenna’s signature themes––family––and builds a tapestry of experiences she has lived and overheard, been told and dreamed up, to create a stunning ode to life’s defining relationships.

ABOUT CMT
CMT, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), is the leading television and digital authority on country music and entertainment, reaching more than 92 million homes in the U.S. CMT and its website, CMT.com, offer an unparalleled mix of music, news, live concerts and series and is the top resource for country music on demand. The network’s digital platforms include the 24-hour music channel, CMT Pure Country, CMT Mobile and CMT VOD.

ABOUT C.F. MARTIN & CO.
C.F. Martin & Co.® (Martin Guitar and Strings) has been inspiring musicians worldwide for 185 years with their superior guitar and string products. Martin Guitar & Strings remain the choice for musicians around the world for their unrivaled quality, craftsmanship, and tone. Throughout the company’s long history, Martin products can be seen and heard across all genres of music and in all segments of pop culture, from concert and theater stages to television and movies.

With an unwavering commitment to environmental sustainability and responsible manufacturing practices, Martin continually drives the acoustic guitar market forward, introducing innovative features that have become standards across the industry. These groundbreaking innovations include the introduction of X-bracing, the 14-fret guitar, and the “Dreadnought” size guitar.

Martin has also led innovations in strings, such as introducing the first high-tensile strength steel-string core wire, the first nickel acoustic strings (Martin Retro), and the proprietary Titanium Core strings.

Connect with Martin Guitar & Strings on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and YouTube and via www.martinguitar.com.

ABOUT NSAI
Established in 1967, the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) is the world’s largest not-for-profit songwriters trade organization and has a membership of more than 5,000 spanning the United States and eight (8) foreign countries. Consisting of a body of creative minds, including songwriters from all genres of music, professional and amateur, NSAI has been committed to protecting the rights and future of the profession of songwriting, as well as carrying a commitment to educate, elevate, and celebrate the songwriter, acting as a unifying force within the music community and the community at large.