Call for entries: International song competition in Germany

The competition seeks to respond to issues relating to global development using music. Every two years, children and young adults in Germany and in the Global South are invited to musically explore development policy topics such as human rights, climate change, sustainable consumption or flight and migration, and to write and compose their own songs based on these topics.

 Who can take part?

• Participants aged between 10 and 25.
• Individuals or groups can take part, e.g. bands or choirs. There are no limits to the group size. Participants can also submit a joint entry with pupils from partner schools or friends from countries from the Global South.
• People who are already registered with a licensing society (e.g. GEMA in Germany) may not take part in the Song Contest, unless they provide a certificate of exemption for their entry from the licensing society.

Read more about the terms of participation here.

How to take part

The competition will take place online and participants need to register and submit their entries here.

Participants will be asked to provide a few details about themselves and their song. They will also be asked to enter their lyrics by copying and pasting them into a text field (if applicable, including the translation of non-German parts of the lyrics).

The submission deadline is 16 June.

At the end of the registration, the following data must be uploaded:

• The song as an audio or video file (permitted file formats are MP3, MP4, MOV, AVI, FLV and others).
• If more than 10 people are participating, a digital document containing the names and dates of birth of all group members.
• Participants who are under 18 years should submit a declaration of consent signed by a parent or sole legal guardian.

The song

• Must not be longer than 3 minutes 50 seconds.
• May be submitted without instrumental.

The lyrics

• Must address the topics ‘one world’ or ‘global development’.
• Should be written in a clear, comprehensible language.
• Should stand out for its artistic value (choice of words, images, structure and style) and originality.

The music will be evaluated according to:

• The musicality (expressive, sensitive and nuanced interpretation).
• Voice performance.
• Composition.
• Development potential.

Prizes

• First prize: The winning song will become the One World song and will accompany the 10th School Competition on Development Policy as its anthem. A professional music video will be filmed for the song, which will also be professionally produced and will be featured in the One World album.
• Second prize: The second-place winners will receive €2 000 euros (about $2 400) and studio production in Berlin. The song will be featured in the One World album. Find out more about the prizes here.

View the original call here.