Alan & Marilyn Bergman Lyric Award

The ASCAP Foundation

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The ASCAP Foundation Alan and Marilyn Bergman Lyric Award was established by Academy award winning lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman. In addition, their lyrics for film, stage and television have earned them 16 Academy Award nominations, and multiple Emmys and Grammys.

This award is presented to an aspiring songwriter or lyricist, who is at the beginning stages of their career and whose quality of lyrics and music and overall style reflects the craftsmanship of composers of the Great American Songbook.

Criteria

The Award recipients shall be reviewed by The ASCAP Foundation's panel of judges based on the following criteria:

• quality of lyrics with pure rhymes;
• strength of melody; and
• overall musical and lyrical prosody.

Prize

One songwriter/lyricist will be selected as the Award Recipient and will receive a monetary prize of $5,000.00 U.S.D. (to be shared equally among all co-writers identified in connection with the Submission). There is no official Award Ceremony in connection with this award.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

• To be eligible for consideration for the Award, an entrant must be, as of the expiration of the Application Period, either
  • an ASCAP writer member in good standing OR a writer who is not affiliated with any performing rights or collective rights management organization
  • For a writer member of ASCAP to be in good standing, such writer must have been:
  • elected to membership in ASCAP,
  • be eligible to vote at General Meetings of ASCAP, and
  • have not either:
  • resigned from membership or
  • delivered an effective notice of intent to resign from membership.
  • The Foundation may, in its sole discretion, disqualify any Entrant if, at any time prior to the awarding of the Prize, such writer is no longer in good standing with ASCAP or becomes affiliated with any performing rights or collective rights management organization (other than ASCAP).
• Entrants must be, at the time of entry:
  • a U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, enrolled student with a valid and current U.S. student visa or hold a valid U.S. visa;
  • A songwriter/lyricist in the early stages of their career;
  • At least 13 years of age.
  • Note that if the Entrant is younger than 18 (or the age of majority in the state of their residency), a parental consent form will be required, a copy of which is provided as part of the online application; and
  • Not currently signed to a “major” publishing, recording or administrative deal, as determined by the Foundation in its sole discretion.
  • Note that the work submitted for consideration must not be commercially recorded by a “major” record label
• If the song submitted as part of the Submission is co-written, all co-writers shall be considered Entrants and must satisfy these eligibility criteria, together with all other requirements set forth in the Rules.
• Submission Requirements
  • Eligible Entrants must:
  • be nominated and invited to enter for consideration for the Award by a representative of ASCAP’s Creative Services department or the Foundation (as applicable, a “Nominator”), and
  • follow the below instructions to be considered for the award.
  • Applicants must upload and submit the following:
  • an .mp3 file containing the song that the Entrant wishes to be considered for the Award, ensuring all meta data (file data that identify the songwriter(s)) is removed from the file before sending;
  • a PDF lyric sheet for such song, without the writer’s name, with the following format:
  • The song title should be written at the top.
  • Each line of lyrics should be numbered as well as stanzas labeled with intro, verse, chorus, bridge. (lyrics must not contain profanities, vulgarities and/or derogatory language, each as determined by the Foundation in its sole discretion);
  • a completed application form, accessed and completed through the digital competition platform (including a parental consent form if the Entrant is under the age 18 (or the age of majority in the state of their residency)).

Ineligibility

• Void where prohibited by law and outside the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
• Judges of the Award or anyone involved in the Judging Procedure as set forth in the Award Requirements are not permitted to enter or win the Award.
• Employees, officers and directors of the Foundation, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and any affiliated company, organization or entity, and their immediate family members, are not eligible to participate in the Award.
  • For purpose of the foregoing, “immediate family” means parents, spouses, children, siblings or any members of the same households of such employees, officers and directors.