GLASTONBURY 2022 EMERGING TALENT COMPETITION ANNOUNCED

Glastonbury Festival has revealed that its 2022 Emerging Talent Competition, once more with the generous backing of PRS for Music and PRS Foundation will be open from Monday 31 January. The free to enter competition offers new UK and Ireland-based acts of any musical genre the opportunity to compete for a spot on one of the main stages at this summer’s Festival. The eventual winner will also collect a £5,000 Talent Development prize from PRS Foundation to aid development of their song writing and performing, while two runners-up will each receive a £2,500 PRS Foundation Talent Development prize.

Entry is open for ONE WEEK ONLY from 9am Monday 31 January until 5pm Monday 7 February 2022 via the Glastonbury website. To take part, acts send in a link to one original song on SoundCloud, plus a link to a video of themselves performing a song live in any context from bedroom to concert hall. Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis commented: “We’re so happy to announce the return of the Emerging Talent Competition, which is always one of the first big markers that another Glastonbury is on its way. The competition has helped us unearth so much amazing music over the years and I’m really excited to hear this year’s crop of entries!”

Once those entries are in, a panel of 30 of the UK’s best music writers including your humble scribbler will help compile a longlist of 90 acts. This then will be whittled down to a shortlist of 8 artistes by judges including Glastonbury’s Michael and Emily Eavis. To decide the outright winner, the last eight standing then do battle in April at the live finals held at Pilton Working Men’s Club, close to the Worthy Farm festival site.

In previous years, all finalists have been offered spots at the Festival with the winner appearing on a prestigious main stage. This year there will be an extra act there too. The winner of the 2020 competition, which had its entry window before the Festival was cancelled, South-East London’s R.A.E, performing her radiant, pin-sharp hip-hop and R&B, will also appear at this year’s Festival as part of her prize.

Many past winners and finalists have gone on to bigger things. These include 2019 winner, soulful singer-songwriter Marie White, R&B singer Izzy Bizu, 2016 winners She Drew The Gun and singer-songwriter Declan McKenna, who won in 2015.

To improve the chance of making the cut, any aspiring act could do worse than taking note of these tips.

· Pick your best original song – you probably know it already but it’s also worth asking someone you know and trust for a second opinion.

· Make your SoundCloud link public. If you get through, you’ll have to make it public anyhow or your track won’t appear in the longlist on the Glastonbury site.

· Don’t send in an inferior live version of the same song on video. In fact, don’t repeat the same song whatever. Choose a different song – it can be an original or a cover – that showcases your ability in terms of vocals, instrumentation and/or arrangement.

· Your video must be a live performance so don’t submit a lip sync video. It can be set literally anywhere – at home, in a rehearsal studio, in the park, not just on a stage somewhere.

· Make sure your SoundCloud and YouTube pages are up to date and reflect your wider repertoire in the best possible light. It’s worth ensuring that your social media links are also current and joined up.

But the main thing, of course, is you have to be in it to win it! Here is a reminder of a past winner, She Drew The Gun, whose sentiments and strength of songwriting still ring true today.