A Christian-music contest in its second year, run by the inspirational-news site InspireMore, open worldwide at $25 a song until January 4, 2027. The money is real and printed in the terms: $5,000 in cash to one Grand Prize winner, $1,000 to each category’s first place and $500 to each second place. The fee is half of one per cent of the top prize.
The judges are named — Dove Award winners Stephen Stanley, Rachael Lampa and Aaron Shust among them, alongside label and publishing A&R from Anotherland, Origin Creative Group and By Design — and the terms describe a screen by contracted professional songwriters before finalists reach them. The contest judges the song, not the recording: “Songs WILL NOT be evaluated on recording quality, vocal prowess, or other similar values.” Entries go in as streaming links; MP3 files are not accepted.
Two things to read before paying. The contest page’s FAQ says “InspireMore takes no rights to the songs entered”, while the terms it links to grant InspireMore a non-exclusive licence over what you submit — to run the contest, to publicize it, and to advertise future contests — with no end date; the terms are the governing document and the heads-up on this card is about them. And the page and the terms count the category winners differently: the page lists eleven first-place and eleven second-place winners, the terms eight of each.
The record
Source
InspireMore’s Christian Song Contest page (inspiremore.com/song-contest), its Psalms To Songs Contest Terms & Conditions (last updated March 10, 2026) and the organizer’s 2025 winners announcement, all captured September 29, 2026.
Refunds
Entry fees are non-refundable — the How To Enter section.
Feedback policy
The organizer states entrants receive no feedback — the How To Enter section.
Who can enter
Any songwriter, artist, musician or band, from anywhere in the world; under-18s need a parent’s or guardian’s permission. Categories: Christian Acoustic, Christian Country, Christian Hip-Hop, Christian Pop, Christian Rock, Contemporary Christian (CCM), Indie Christian, Gospel, Worship & Inspirational, Lyrics Only and Seasonal / Holiday.
What it costs
“An entry fee of $25 is required with each song entry.” No limit on entries, each at $25. No early or late tier is published, though the Promotions section reserves the right to change “promotion deadlines, entry fees, prize packages, or any other contest details at any time and for any reason.” Captured September 29, 2026.
What you can win
Per the terms: Grand Prize (one) — “$5,000 in cash USD”, A&R mentorship with Scott Graves, editorial coverage, a feature article and a premium guitar; each category first place — $1,000 cash, A&R mentorship and editorial coverage; each second place — $500 cash and editorial coverage. Entry costs $25; the top cash prize is $5,000 — the fee is 0.5% of it.
Two counts that disagree
The contest page lists “1st Place Category Winners (11)” and “2nd Place Category Winners (11)”; the Terms & Conditions list eight of each. The page also names eleven categories. The card reports both counts rather than choosing one. The terms also still schedule mentor video calls “in 2026”, for a contest whose entries close in January 2027.
Who judges
Named on the contest page: Stephen Stanley, HOPEFUL., Rachael Lampa, Aaron Shust, Karrie Dawley (Anotherland), Jon Sell (Origin Creative Group), Josh Bailey (By Design) and Scott Graves. Per the terms, entries are “first screened by multiple professional songwriters contracted by Inspire More” before finalists go to the panel, on lyrics, melody, composition, creativity and overall appeal.
Rights, plainly
The terms: “We do NOT claim ownership in the materials you submit”, then “you hereby grant to us a limited, non-exclusive license to use, stream, transmit, beam, store, publicly display, translate, reproduce, and distribute such content… for purposes of administering the contest, to publicize the contest and for the purposes of advertising and promoting future contests that we conduct.” No end date is stated. The contest page’s FAQ summarises this as “InspireMore takes no rights to the songs entered”.
Deadline
“The InspireMore Christian Song Contest deadline is January 4, 2027, at 11:59:59 (CST)”, and “Inspire More reserves the right to extend the deadline at any point in the contest.” Winners are due within ninety days of the deadline. A “Closes September 17” countdown on the contest page belongs to a short promotion inside the contest, not to the contest itself.