Call for entries: Global Influences music project

Singing Wells is funded by UK charity organisation Abubilla Music Foundation and was launched in 2011 to record, archive and share the traditional music of East Africa. 

“We have always aimed to showcase this incredible music with the wider global music community to show just how innovative and exciting this music is,” Abubilla Music said. “With that in mind, as we approach our 10th anniversary, we want to truly combine these two missions and celebrate how music in the modern age can transcend global barriers.”

How to participate

The Global Influences Project requires artists to create artistic responses using a series of musical loops taken from field recordings across East Africa over the past decade. Artists, producers, dancers, videographers and songwriters worldwide aged 16 and above are invited to demonstrate how music is relevant to today's modern world. Participants can use the loops to create a house track, as inspiration for a dance piece, or as the soundtrack to a painting.

Access the loop library here. 

Entrants submitting musical responses should note the following:

• The track should be in MP3 format.
• The track must be a minimum of 30 seconds long and incorporate one or more of the loops.
• Entrants should submit footage of the production, recording or writing process (not mandatory).

Entrants submitting dance/visual responses should note the following:

• Entrants should create a video/footage of their piece of work with the musical loops featured in some capacity (min 30 seconds and max 60 seconds).
• The pixel resolution should be 1920 x 1080.
• The video should be in ProRes or MP4 format and in 25 frames per second.

Successful applicants will receive £60 ($80) per submission with payments made through PayPal.

“If you want to independently release your music for sale or streaming using these samples, please get in touch with us so that we can grant you a licence,” Abubilla Music said. 

The submission process is ongoing.

For enquiries, send an email to info@singingwells.org.