1) ELIGIBILITY

• The contest is open to songwriters who are 18 years of age or older on the date of song submission. Any entrant who is a minor in their jurisdiction of legal residence will be required to obtain and submit written permission from their parent or legal guardian to participate in the contest.
• For the purposes of the competition, a song must have both lyrics and music. All submitted songs must be original, unpublished (or self-published) songs that have been written or co-written by the entrant(s).
• For competition purposes, an unpublished song is defined as being recorded and self-released by the entrant(s) and/or not co-published by a commercially active music publisher.
• if the submission is a band then the maximum number of people in the band can be up to a maximum of 6 people.
• Co-writers are subject to the same eligibility criteria.
• Artists from anywhere in the world are eligible to enter.

2) SUBMISSION POLICY

• Each entry must be an original, unpublished musical composition (“composition”) for which the contestant retains the copyright and authority to submit and perform the composition in the contest. The ROAD TO MEMPHIS and TUFF.EARTH are not responsible and disclaims any liability for late, lost, damaged, misdirected, postage-due, stolen, or misappropriated entries or for any errors in online submissions, including, but not limited to unsuccessful file uploads. Materials submitted will not be returned and ROAD TO MEMPHIS and TUFF.EARTH reserve the right to dispose of all submitted material in any manner.
• The competition close date will be Friday 23 August 2024.

3) COSTS TO ENTER

• Free to enter.

4) FINALIST, WINNER SELECTION & JUDGING CRITERIA 

• Finalist: The semi finalist will be chosen by a panel of judges and public voting may also weigh in on the decision; these will be announced in January 2025 via the Road to Memphis social channels / website. 
• Songs will be judged on the following criteria: 

                   1) Lyrics (imagery, story, creativity, originality)

                   2) Melody (structure, phrasing, rhythm) 

Winner: Judges will select one of the ten finalists as a winner. Judges announced in due course. 

5) PRIZES 

The winner will be awarded exciting recording and a trip to Memphis, details of which will be revealed soon via the Road to Memphis website.

6) NOTIFICATIONS & WAIVERS

– Selected finalists will be notified by email and each winner must provide the following items to be eligible to compete in The Road to Memphis International Song Contest finals:

(i) an affidavit confirming

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

(b) that his or her composition is original,

(c) that they own 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 “Affidavit”), all within 14 days of the notification date. The failure to sign and return the Affidavit within Fourteen (14) Days 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  TUFF.EARTH and its agents. Each contestant’s submission constitutes his or her permission to use his or her name, likeness, and voice for future advertising and publicity purposes without additional consideration.

TUFF.EARTH retain the exclusive right to use in perpetuity any media inclusive of ancillary rights created in conjunction with the Road to Memphis including but not limited to; live recordings, video and photographs, social media posts, workshops. Participants grant TUFF.EARTH the use of this archival material in perpetuity.

7) RESTRICTIONS

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

• Entries must be original songs.
• Submissions are not subject to a time limit. But if you are selected as one of our ten finalists, your live performance of one original songs on the finals contest stage must meet a strict six (6) minute time limit.
• The song MUST be performed live by either a chosen singer / band or the original writer.
• Co-written songs may be submitted

8)  LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

TUFF.EARTH reserves the right to hold void, suspend, cancel, or amend the event or any feature thereof at any time, with or without notice, where in the Promoter’s opinion it

becomes necessary to do so. Insofar as is permitted by law, the Promoter, its agents or distributors will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate entrants or their representatives, or

accept any liability for any loss, damage, personal injury or death occurring as a result of

participating in the event.

9)  CONTENT

We do NOT claim ownership in the materials you submit in conjunction with the Contest. Such materials include written text, files, images, photos, video, songs, lyrics, poetry, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, remarks, suggestions, ideas, graphics, tags, hashtags, genres, splits, ownership splits, identifiable numbers, identifiable codes, songwriter name, personal identifiable information, copyright registration information, affiliated companies or individuals, rights holder, administrator, publisher, or any other materials (collectively, “Content”) that you display, upload, transfer, publish, or post to roadtonashville.us, whether public or private. By submitting any Content through the Contest, whether public or private, you hereby grant to 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 ONLY for purposes of the Contest. 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 The Road to Nashville, contest judges and screeners, 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 The Road to Nashville to be liable to another.

10) EXPLANATION OF RIGHTS

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

11) MEDIA SHARING

1. Grant of Rights for Media Sharing:** By entering the "Road to Memphis Song Contest" (hereinafter referred to as the "Contest"), each entrant (the "Entrant") hereby acknowledges and agrees that any and all submissions, materials, music, songs, recordings, and other content submitted by the Entrant in connection with the Contest (collectively, the "Entries") may be shared, broadcasted, and otherwise utilized by the Contest organizers, and its contest partner, iHeart Media Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, "iHeart Media"), for the purpose of radio network features and other promotional, advertising, or any other purposes as deemed appropriate by the Contest organizers and iHeart Media, without further notice or compensation to the Entrant.

2. Duration: The rights granted herein shall commence from the date of submission of the Entries and shall continue in perpetuity unless otherwise terminated in writing by the Contest organisers.

3. No Obligation to Use: Nothing herein obligates the Contest organisers or iHeart Media to use, broadcast, or promote any of the Entries. However, in the event of such use, the Entrant acknowledges that no additional compensation, royalties, or fees shall be owed to the Entrant outside of those expressly provided in the Contest rules and regulations.

4. Representation and Warranty: The Entrant represents and warrants that the Entries are original, solely owned by the Entrant, and do not infringe upon the rights, including but not limited to copyrights, trademarks, or rights of publicity, of any third party. The Entrant shall indemnify and hold harmless the Contest organizers, iHeart Media, and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, and representatives from and against any claims arising from a breach of this representation and warranty.

5. General: This clause shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which the Contest is organised, without regard to its conflicts of law provisions. Any disputes arising from or related to this clause shall be resolved in the appropriate courts of that jurisdiction.

By entering the Contest, the Entrant acknowledges and agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions set forth in these terms & conditions, as well as any other terms and conditions set forth by the Contest organisers.