The Song Post.
Competitions/International Songwriting Competition, Inc.

International Songwriting Competition 2026.

with International Songwriting Competition, Inc. — the 2025 winners are published by name, song and category — Samuel Opoku’s “Old” took the Grand Prize, with first places listed beneath it in AAA, Blues, Children’s Music and Country · listed Aug 2Verified · Aug 14
Closes
November 23
late autumn
Entry
$20–$30 per song, per category
two ISC pages state different fees — see the record
You could win
$25,000 cash
plus studio time, guitars and gear
Your rights
You keep every ownership right in the song you enter — Rule 14.
A publicity-rights note: Rule 10: “Entry constitutes permission to use winner's name, likeness, and voice for future advertising and publicity purposes without additional compensation.” That is a grant over a winner’s publicity, not over the song — and the same clause shape appears in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest (Section 5) and the International Acoustic Music Awards (Rule 6), both also on this desk.

ISC runs one cycle a year in three fee tiers. The rules page prints them as “Early Bird: July 1, 2026– $25 / Regular September 16, 2026 – $30 / Extended: November 23, 2026 – $35”. Only the last of those three is a closing date; the first two are price rises. This card therefore counts down to November 23, and on September 16 the price goes from $30 to $35 without the door shutting. The fee is charged per song per category, and the rules do the arithmetic themselves: “if the current fee is $30 and you enter one song in two categories, the fee is $60.”

One thing to check before you pay. On the day we captured these pages the ISC home page was advertising “ISC ENTRY FEE ONLY $20 FOR LIMITED TIME”, dated July 28, 2026, with no stated end date — a different number from the one on the rules page. Both are quoted in the record below; the entry form is where the price actually applies.

The Grand Prize is $25,000 (US) in cash, which is unusual on this desk — of the nine competitions listed here, three carry a cash top prize above $2,500. Ownership is dealt with in Rule 14; the clause worth reading twice is Rule 10, quoted above.

The record
Who can enter
Open worldwide, online. Entries are made per category, and the rules contemplate the same song entered in more than one.
What it costs
The rules page lists three tiers — “Early Bird: July 1, 2026– $25 / Regular September 16, 2026 – $30 / Extended: November 23, 2026 – $35” — charged per song, per category. The home page separately advertises “ISC ENTRY FEE ONLY $20 FOR LIMITED TIME”, dated July 28, 2026, with no stated end date. Both pages captured August 2, 2026.
When it actually closes
November 23, 2026 — the Extended deadline, and the last dated one the rules print. September 16 is the Regular tier’s price rise, not a close: the rules page lists all three tiers under one heading, “Deadlines and Entry Fees for ISC 2026”, and only the last of them ends entry. Re-verified on the rules page August 14, 2026, which also added a line the August 2 capture did not carry: “ISC will be running additional special promotions throughout the competition and after the Extended Deadline through January, 2027.” Rule 3 separately reserves ISC’s right “to extend the entry deadlines”.
The prize
$25,000 (US) cash to the Grand Prize winner. The non-cash side is itemised on the prizes page: three days at The Church Studio with an engineer and two nights’ lodging, two Godin guitars, an sE Electronics XL S microphone bundle, Zildjian cymbals and headphones, and Lurssen mastering.
Rights, plainly
Rule 14: “Entrant retains all ownership rights to all submitted song(s). ISC will not have any ownership rights to any song(s) submitted.” Rule 10 grants publicity rights over winners — quoted in full above, and a separate question from the song.
Refunds
Rule 3: “All entry fees are non-refundable.”
Source
ISC rules page (songwritingcompetition.com/rules), prizes page and home page, all captured August 2, 2026; the rules page re-read and the deadline re-verified August 14, 2026.
more from this desk
Competition

Best Song Of The Month

with SongwriterUniverse
Closes
Rolling
Rolling — no deadline pressure
Entry
$10 per song
You could win
No cash, industry directories and a Broadjam membership, plus a published interview
The contest page carries no rights, licence or ownership clause — captured August 2, 2026.
Verified · Aug 2The record
Competition

The American Songwriter Lyric Contest — Session Six

with American Songwriter
Closes
September 15
tomorrow
Entry
$15 per entry
You could win
No cash. A Gibson guitar to first place, publication in the magazine, and a Nashville co-writing trip for the Grand Prize winner
The license has no stated end date — Section 5 (Content).
A heads-up: Section 5 (Content) takes a licence over what you send and never states how long it lasts. Scope, duration and revocability are what a licence means — an ownership disclaimer standing next to it settles none of them, so this is the question to put to American Songwriter in writing before you enter.
Verified · Aug 11The record