Competitions/Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festivals Inc.
Rocky Mountain Songwriter Contest 2027 — a showcase in Red Lodge, Montana.
with Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festivals Inc. — the contest feeds the annual Red Lodge Songwriter Festival, which the page numbers as its 10th edition in June 2027; the site publishes a 2026 winners page and a past-winners archive, and names “Hudson Mueller, last year’s winner” · listed Sep 29Verified · Sep 29
Closes
February 28
months away
Entry
$45 for up to two songs
one price covers one or two songs; submissions open October 1, 2026 and the contest closes early if it reaches 100 songwriters
You could win
No cash. The winner gets a Gibson guitar (courtesy of Gibson Gives) and an invitation back to the 2028 festival as a paid Rising Star Songwriter; first and second place open the June 19
2027 show for the Nashville Hit Songwriters, and third to fifth play in the round that afternoon
Your rights
An exclusive license, limited to live recordings, video, webisodes and photographs created in conjunction with the festival, for all time (“in perpetuity”) — Section 9 of the contest rules.
A heads-up: Section 9 of the contest rules uses perpetual/irrevocable licensing language over the song, regardless of any separate ownership disclaimer — scope, duration and revocability decide, not the disclaimer.
The 2027 contest is announced as open, but the rules set the actual window: songs are accepted “from October 1, 2026, to February 28, 2027, or when we reach 100 submissions from songwriters.” Nothing can be sent before October 1, and the February date is a ceiling rather than a promise — a hundred songwriters closes it sooner. $45 covers one or two songs.
There is no cash in the prize, and it is a performance prize more than an object: twenty finalists, notified by March 1, 2027, perform their song at a showcase in Red Lodge, Montana on June 19, 2027, in front of the judges. The winner takes a Gibson guitar and an invitation back to the 2028 festival as a paid Rising Star Songwriter — the fee for that slot is not stated — and the top two open the evening show for the festival’s Nashville hit songwriters. The rules require that the person entering is the person who performs the song, and that finalists travel to Montana to compete; travel is not mentioned as covered.
The rules say two different things about rights, and both are on this card. Section 10: “The writer(s) retain all rights to submitted songs.” Section 9: the organizer “retains the exclusive right to use in perpetuity any media… created in conjunction with” the festival, “including but not limited to live recordings, video, webisodes, and photographs.” The song stays yours; a recording of you performing it at the showcase is theirs, exclusively and without end. Separately, every entered song is posted on the festival’s website.
The record
Source
The Rocky Mountain Songwriter Contest page (rockymtnsongwriterfestivals.org), its published rules in ten numbered sections, captured September 29, 2026.
Who can enter
Songwriters 18 or older, from anywhere in the world, with an original song that has both lyrics and music and has not been co-published by a commercially active publisher (self-released recordings are allowed). Past grand prize winners may not re-enter. Co-writes are allowed, but only the co-writer who performs the song can win.
What it costs
Section 6: “$45, you can enter up to two songs.” Payment is made in advance through the festival’s payment portal, and songs are emailed as MP3 with a PDF lyric sheet. No refund policy is published on the captured page. Captured September 29, 2026.
When it is open
Submissions from October 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027, “or when we reach 100 submissions from songwriters”. The date on this card is the February 28 ceiling; the cap can close the contest earlier, and the page publishes no running count.
The prize
No cash. The winner: a Gibson guitar “courtesy of Gibson Gives” and an invitation to perform at the 2028 festival “as a paid Rising Star Songwriter”, the fee unstated. First and second place open the show before the Nashville Hit Songwriters on Saturday, June 19, 2027; third to fifth play in the round that afternoon. The page describes the top five as “nationally recognized”.
How it is judged
Twenty finalists are picked from the MP3 entries by “a panel of judges” described only as music industry professionals — none is named on the page — and notified by March 1, 2027. The winner and places two to five are chosen from live performances at the Red Lodge showcase. The rules publish the criteria: structure, lyrics, melody and originality, including “commercial potential”.
Rights, plainly
Two clauses. Section 10: “The writer(s) retain all rights to submitted songs.” Section 9: “Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festivals Inc. retains the exclusive right to use in perpetuity any media, including ancillary rights, created in conjunction with” the festival, “including but not limited to live recordings, video, webisodes, and photographs.” And Section 7: “All songs will be posted on the Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festivals website” — every entry, not only the finalists.
One inconsistency
The page numbers the festival three ways: the June 2027 finals run “in conjunction with the 10th Annual Red Lodge Songwriter Festival”, while the winner’s 2028 invitation is described once as the “12th Annual” and once as the “11th Annual”. The card reports the discrepancy rather than choosing a number.
more from this desk
Competition
International Acoustic Music Awards 2026
with International Acoustic Music Awards
Closes
November 6
this Friday
Entry
$35 per song
You could win
No cash, $11,000 of merchandise and services to the Grand Prize winner
“Entrants and their collaborators will retain full rights to all work submitted for the competition” — Rule 5.
A publicity-rights note: Rule 6: “Entry constitutes permission to use winners names, likeness and voices for future publicity and advertising purposes without additional compensation.” A publicity grant over winners, not a claim on the song — the same clause shape appears in ISC’s Rule 10 and the John Lennon Songwriting Contest’s Section 5.
The American Songwriter Lyric Contest — 2027, Session One
with American Songwriter
Closes
November 15
two weeks
Entry
$15 per lyric
You could win
No cash. The 2027 prize package is not yet published; what the page confirms for every session is that all 15 finalists are featured in American Songwriter and first through fourth place have their lyrics published, and the terms name a Gibson guitar for first place and a Nashville co-writing trip for the year’s 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.