COMBO 9th Annual Songwriting Contest
Deadline for submission is May 31st, 2025
It’s the annual Colorado Music Business Organization Songwriting Contest!
COMBO is dedicated to supporting, promoting, and advocating for emerging songwriters, helping to bring awareness to Colorado musicians. Through the COMBO Songwriters Contest, we want to provide songwriters a platform to have their music heard. We are believers in creativity, chasing dreams, and getting the chance to pursue your passion. Why? Because our board members are made up of artists, performers, and music lovers. We know it takes courage, conviction, and passion to pursue your music and find your purpose.
The winning songs will be curated for a compilation CD provided to participating music industry professionals including but not limited to music publishers, radio hosts, music supervisors, and others.
How It Works
Before you start make sure you have:
- An original song recorded in wav format ready for upload.
- The lyrics for that song in a format that you can easily copy and paste. ( .txt is good .pdf is bad )
Click the Buy Now Button below to enter one song into the contest
I Want to Become a COMBO Member Right Now!
COMBO Individual Members may enter 1 free song into the songwriting contest and COMBO Band Members may enter 2 free songs into the contest. The fee for Non-COMBO members to enter a song is $10, and the fee for each additional song is $10 per song.
(by clicking the link and making payment you agree to the rules specified below)
3 Easy Steps
- Click the Buy Now link (at left). Make a payment for $10
- You will be taken to the application page to fill out your information including the song lyrics
- Upload your song in .mp3 format
- Optional – Repeat above steps for each additional song
After submitting the form, contestants will receive an email confirmation of the accepted entries including the song registration number. (i.e. Song #113)
Please be patient with us, we are all volunteers. It might take a few days to get back to you.
*** If you are not sure if you are a Current Member, please look at our list of Current Members.
If you are not listed, you are not a member and you must pay for your song submission.
How Your Song Will Be Judged
The judging panel will consist of a variety of individuals within the music industry. The judges will use a consistent set of standards to make impartial decisions as to the merits of the song. We strive to make sure that the judging is fair and follows our mission of supporting and encouraging songwriters. We want to help all songwriters improve. That is why our judges will endeavor to provide contestants with helpful feedback that will inspire them to continue on their journey of songwriting.
All submissions will be anonymous to the judges. Song submissions will only be identifiable by a number provided by COMBO. Contestants will receive an email confirmation of the accepted entries including the song registration number.
The criteria below will be the standard for which the judging panel will use to judge the submitted songs.
Judging Criteria
Song Structure and Composition
- The song has a clear theme or cohesive idea
- The song has clearly identifiable sections, verse, chorus, etc.
- The song is between 2 to 5 minutes
Lyrics
- The lyrics evoke an emotional response from the listener
- The lyrics are singable and memorable
- The lyrics have an identifiable rhyme scheme or pattern
Music & Melody
- The music and melody adds to the emotional impact of the song
- The music keeps the listener interested and engaged
- The music and lyrics fit together in a cohesive way
Originality
- The song expresses the theme in a new or fresh way
- The song is memorable
- The song has commercial potential
The Rules
- The Deadline for all entries is May 31, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. MST
- The judging panel will consist of a panel of music industry individuals who will be anonymous. The name of the artist and the name of the song will remain confidential until the winner(s) are chosen. Judges will not have information about the artist, band, and/or name of the submitted song/s.
- COMBO Individual Members may enter 1 free song into the songwriting contest and COMBO Band Members may enter 2 free songs into the contest. The fee for Non-COMBO members to enter a song is $10, and the fee for each additional song is $10 per song.
- Contestants must provide lyrics unless the song is instrumental only.
- Contestants Must be a songwriter listed in the official copyright of the song.
- Failure to follow the submission criteria will result in the disqualification of your song.
- If your song contains an explicit word, per FCC rules regarding the seven banned words for airplay, please consider muting the word on the mp3 track.
- By submitting any content to this contest, whether public or private, you hereby grant us a limited, non-exclusive license to use, stream, transmit, beam, store, publicly display, translate, reproduce, and distribute such content, in any format, whether known or unknown, including the limited right to use your likeness, persona, logo, trademark, and right(s) of publicity.
- By entering the Contest, you represent and warrant that your entry is an original work and that the content does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, trademarks, contract rights, or any other rights of any person or business. You further agree to indemnify and hold COMBO, Colorado Music Association, and all contest sponsors, their subsidiaries, and affiliates, and their respective officers, agents, partners, and employees, harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of any breach of your representations and warranties set forth above and/or if any part of the entry causes COMBO to be liable to another.
- Eligibility. This contest is open to any songwriter or band. Employees, volunteers, and independent contractors of COMBO and their immediate families, as well as the judges panel, employees of sponsors, and their immediate families, are not eligible to enter. If a song is found to be in violation, COMBO will refund the submission fee to the original entrant. By submitting, you are agreeing that you are a songwriter or band member and that you are not employed by or affiliated with any of the contest sponsors. You represent and warrant that (a) all registration information you submit is truthful and accurate; (b) you will maintain the accuracy of such information; (c) you are 13 years of age or older, and (d) your entry to the contest does not violate any applicable law or regulation. If you are under 18 years of age, however, you must have permission and clearance to enter the contest from your parent or legal guardian. Entry of the contest is void where prohibited. contest winners are notified by email address or phone number.
- We reserve the right to only use two songs from any one writer or group of writers on the CD.
- The songwriter retains all copyrights to submitted songs.