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1. The SOFIA™ music award contest is an international songwriting and music competition open to anyone who has independently produced and released the song they wish to enter. All songs entered must be independently released, must be the original work of the artist/songwriter, and the songwriter must have full rights. This means the song must be self-released by the songwriter, or released by a small label that is independent of the big, commercial record labels, this includes WMG, Sony BMG, EMI, and Universal and/or their subsidiaries. *All entrants must be 18 years or older.
2. What qualifies as an Indie record label?
The artist/songwriter acting as their own producer and publisher.
Any small, independent label not owned by a major corporation, not owned by WMG, Sony BMG, EMI, and Universal, and/or their subsidiaries, and has a small number of recording artists, generally publishing only a few songs/records per year. (Warner, Sony, Universal and EMI releases are not eligible.)
3. Songs must be released and available for sale on or before the SOFIA™ submission deadline. The version of the song submitted must match the one that is publicly available.
4. Each entrant understands and accepts that the SOFIA™ Music Awards contest is a competition, therefore an award is not guaranteed; you are competing against other entrants, entry fees are non-refundable, and by making payment and submitting your song, you agree to the terms of use.
5. If an entrant pays for entrance into the contest and fails to submit an mp3, or AAC of their song, or a viable link to a free streaming video or audio where judges can hear the entire song, the entry will be disqualified, and the entry fee will be forfeited by the artist. (We will make every effort to contact entrants to let them know if we did not receive their file, or if there was a problem with it, so they can send us an acceptable file.)
6. Each entrant is responsible for adding our email address to their contacts in order to bypass their email spam filter. We may need to contact an entrant to verify their address, or about issues regarding their entry. In the event that we are unable to contact an entrant, their entry may be disqualified and no refunds will be given. Our email address is sofiamusicawards@gmail.com.
7. We accept mp3 or AAC file formats of your complete song. We do not convert files for entrants. SOFIA™ is all digitial; we do not accept hard copies.
8. If there are no viable songs (songs written, arranged and performed well enough to achieve award status) in a particular category, we reserve the right not to present an award for that specific category. (To date, this situation has never happened.) Awards are given to songs that score high enough based on our judging protocol. This is true for every category. No matter how many entries are received in any given category, if no song garners the high score needed to win the category, then no award will be given for that respective category, and no refunds will be given to the entrants of that category. Our goal is to award high-quality songwriting, and we strive to improve our award as much as possible.
9. We award songs based on our criteria and at our discretion, not at the discretion of any other entity. Reviews, number of social media followers, number of streams, and other popularity factors are not a part of our evaluation process. We evaluate entries based on the merit of the music and all the elements of said music, such as arrangement, vocals, instruments, melody, theme, lyrics and how all these elements are brought together to make quality music.
10. SOFIA™ is a legitimate competition. We are not a pay for review, not a pay for award entity. We are a contest, wherein entrants are competing with other entries in their genre.
11. Due to the high cost of shipping outside the United States, physical awards may not be shipped to winners that live outside the United States. In lieu of a trophy, the winner will receive digital award emblems. We will, however, do all we can to ensure winners receive their trophies. To date, all of our winners from all over the world have received the physical trophy.
12. In the process of entering the SOFIA™ Music Award contest, you are not transferring any copyright or song rights to SOFIA™. Your song rights remain your own.
13. We are aware that many songwriters do not copyright their work. The act of copyrighting or not copyrighting is your personal choice. However, we do recommend that you copyright your work in all cases.
14. You may enter more than one song in the SOFIA™ Music Awards contest, but each entry must be accompanied by the entry fee. Entry fees are non-refundable.
15. When you enter the SOFIA™ Music Awards contest, if you win in any category, your song will automatically be entered in the SOFIA™ Song of the Year competition. Each year, irrespective of category, SOFIA™ judges will select one Song of the Year from the winning artists’ pool. In addition to the SOFIA™ trophy for the category won, this single SOFIA™ Song of the Year winner will also receive the SOFIA™ Song of the Year $500 cash prize. This cash prize is paid out via Paypal. There is no exception to this process. If you do not accept the cash prize via Paypal, you agree to forfeit the prize money.
16. All judges in the contest will remain anonymous. There are no exceptions to this rule. In addition, entrant information is kept strictly confidential. This means that we do not sell your information to any third party.
17. No information will be given regarding the number of songs entered in the contest or who entered. (With the exception of announcing the winners.)
18. We do not provide non-winning songwriters/artists with judging notes, comments, or placement information about exactly where their songs ranked in the contest. We do not offer detailed feedback as to why a song did not make it to the finals or to winner status. A contest is a competition, not a full-time critiquing/coaching service.
19. Each year, the annual SOFIA™ will be open for submissions on January 1st. The deadline is April 15th of each year.
20. Entries will be judged based on multiple skills, such as arrangement, vocals, instruments, melody, theme, lyrics and how all these elements are brought together to make quality music.
21. One winner will be announced for each category. We do not have finalist awards or honorable mentions. We only award and announce ONE winner per category.
22. If you submit an entry without payment, your entry will be deleted within 24 hours of submission and will not be judged.
23. Winners will be announced by August 30th of each year. We make the Winner Announcement via our website.
24. We maintain the right to move a song to the correct category without notice if we feel it was entered in the wrong genre.
25. If after due diligence we are unable to contact a winner, we reserve the right to disqualify said winner, and if possible, award the title to another songwriter in that category. No refunds are given. (We make two attempts via email. The artist has 10 days to respond to the first email.)
26. We ask that entrants white-list us so that our emails do not end up in spam folders. Despite our efforts, we cannot guarantee delivery of any email. There are forces beyond our control wherein we must rely on the entrants to do their part. Upon completing the entry form, every entrant is sent an email that gives password and log-in information to their personal page, where each entrant can see their entry form. We cannot guarantee that this email won’t end up in a spam folder, because there are multiple factors that could affect these emails. Servers, email services, and how the entrant handles emails on their end, all of which are beyond our control, can all affect whether or not an entrant receives what we send. Because we are not the governing body of said email services and servers, we cannot change these issues. If you did not receive your personal page log-in, please let us know and we will send your password again. This generally goes to the email associated with your billing information on the entry form.
27. All works submitted must be the artist’s original work. By agreeing to these Terms, you represent that you are the creator of the work submitted and that you own all rights to the work.
28. We reserve the right to not award any songs in a category if they do not fit the winner criteria set forth by the SOFIA™ contest.
29. It is your responsibility to send us the best version of the song you are entering in the SOFIA™. Because our judging process begins within 2-48 hours of you submitting your song, we cannot, and do not, accept additional upgraded, re-engineered versions of your song after the fact. We will only judge the song that you originally submitted.
30. By entering, you grant us the right to use your likeness, your pseudonym/stage name, your song cover art, song description, any links to the song, your website, your social media accounts, and any other information we deem necessary in order to promote the song should it win.
31. Please keep a record of which songs you entered into our contest, and when. If you accidentally enter the same song in the same year and category, we are so busy that we may not catch it, and we are not responsible for duplicate entries. Once a song begins the judging process (this usually begins within 48 hours of entry), no refunds are given. It is your responsibility to keep track of which contests you enter. We do our best to catch duplicates, but sometimes one can slip through the process. You can help us out by keeping track of your own entries.
32. All song files we receive are kept strictly confidential. Only our judges will have access, and the files are deleted from our system upon completion of the contest. We do not sell, or give, any entrant information to third parties.
33. Entering the SOFIA™ Music Awards contest does not guarantee a win. By submitting an entry, you understand and agree to all the Terms set forth, and you understand and agree that no refunds are given for any reason.
34. We ship one trophy only to each winner. While we do everything we can to ensure the delivery of award trophies, we cannot guarantee the delivery of any package. If your package is not delivered, we do not send a replacement. If you are a winner and you would like to purchase a duplicate trophy, please contact us for instructions. Duplicate trophies are currently $100.00 per trophy. This fee covers the trophy, the engraving, the packaging, and the shipping cost within the United States.
35. Any and all marketing companies or representatives of any artist please be advised that we only send awards directly to the artist who wins in their respective category. We do not send awards via representatives. There are no exceptions to this rule. All awards will go directly to the winning artist. Therefore, the artist’s name, email address, and mailing address must be given to us upon entry. If you do not provide us with this information, the work will be disqualified and no refund will be given.
36. Due to customs regulations in countries outside the United States, we cannot guarantee delivery of any package outside the United States.
37. Without prior notification, we may change the engraving, look, size, or design of the trophy at any time.
38. We do not award songs that promote hate speech against any group of people, or contains inflammatory language or bias against any group of people, religion, political party, gender, or race.
39. The judging process begins within a few days of entry, and we do not refund entry fees during the contest proceedings. We expect entrants to properly vet their record label to determine if their song qualifies for the SOFIA™ Music Awards competition. If a song is entered and begins the juding process, we do not give refunds if the record label is determined to not qualify as independent after the song has gone through the judging process.
40. When you enter the SOFIA™ Music Awards, you guarantee that you are above the age of 18, and that the information you provide us is accurate, complete, and current at all times.
41. We reserve the right to change these terms at any time without prior notice.
42. The use of our trademarks, SOFIA™ and Songwriters on Fire™ are forbidden unless directly authorized to do so by any owner or assign for the SOFIA™ Music Awards. The use of our winner emblems and logos is forbidden unless authorized by any owner or assign for the SOFIA™ Music Awards. The reproduction of our winner emblems and logos is forbidden unless authorized by any owner or assign for the SOFIA™ Music Awards.
43. You (Entrant, Songwriter, or End User) agree to indemnify and hold SofiaMusicAwards.com, SOFIA™ Music Awards, and its licensees, successors, and assigns, and their distributors, customers, officers, directors, members, employees, and agents, harmless against any expense (including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees and disbursements) or judgment, settlement or other liability arising out of any claim or legal proceeding asserting claims contrary to any warranty or representation made by You in this Agreement.
44. By entering, you, the entrant, agree to all these terms, and you agree that every term is binding. You understand that this is a competition and no refunds are given for any reason.