Litchfield Park, AZ -- (SBWire) -- 09/11/2012 --In the music industry, the saturation of talent is at an all-time high, and yet manufactured acts designed by committee still dominate the mainstream market. For genuine artists, it is still incredibly difficult to be recognized when starting out. The Show Me The Music Songwriting Contest is an opportunity for music makers to demonstrate their talents and find a side door into the industry, as well as a cash prize of $10,000.

The contest was founded in 2009 by Al Lopez, and has grown from strength to strength every year, attracting more sponsors and contestants for even bigger prizes. The 2011 songwriting contest winner Debra Arlyn said, “Since winning, I’ve had so many great opportunities come my way.”

The sponsors include industry heavyweights like ReverbNation, Castle Recording Studios, CopyCats Media and BroadJam.

Entries for the 2012 songwriting contest are now closed, and the judges are reviewing the entries with a view to giving out some of the biggest prizes ever.

The contest is designed to be an answer to melodramatic exploitation theatre like the X-Factor, which carefully crafts human drama as opposed to nurturing genuine human talent. The site’s blog is a good example of the emphasis on nurturing talent, with interesting and informative editorials on music theory, role models and more.

Songs entered into the competition are judged on melody, lyrics, song structure, and originality. Over 1,000 songs were submitted last year, and this year looks set to break the record.

“We’ve had an amazing crop of submissions this year and the judging process is going to be tough. The criteria we judge the entries on are designed to favor real musicians with genuine talent. It’s not enough to be able to sing or to write or to strum a guitar, you have to show you can blend all these into an original, authentic piece of music. The winner gets to pick their prize: $10,000, or $3,000 and a recording session in Music City.”

The contest winners will be announced at the end of September.

About Show Me The Music
The Show Me the Music Songwriting Contest was founded in 2009 by Al Lopez as a means to open doors to aspiring songwriters in an industry where few opportunities exist. Attracting more contestants and sponsors with every new event, both the contest and prizes continue to grow each year. For more information, please visit http://www.showmethemusiccontest.com