London – Glastonbury Festival has just announced details of its Emerging Talent Competition 2016, giving new UK and Ireland-based acts of any musical genre the chance to compete for a spot on one of the main stages at this summer’s Festival which runs from 22nd to 26th June. The winners of the free-to-enter competition will also be awarded a £5,000 Talent Development prize from PRS for Music Foundation to help raise their songwriting and performing to the next level. Two runners-up will each secure a £2,500 PRS for Music Foundation Talent Development prize.
Acts can enter the 2016 competition FOR ONE WEEK ONLY from 9am Monday 18th January until 5pm Monday 25th January 2016 via the Glastonbury website. Recent Emerging Talent Competition entrants include hotly-tipped R&B singer Izzy Bizu (a 2016 BRITs Critics’ Choice and BBC Sound Of 2016 nominee) and fast-rising young rapper Isaiah Dreads.
Last year’s winner was singer-songwriter Declan McKenna, who has since signed a management deal with Q Prime, who also handle Metallica, Muse and Foals.
Entrants need to supply a link to one original song on SoundCloud, plus a video link of some form of live performance, even if only recorded in a bedroom! Once the entries are in, a panel of 40 of the UK’s top music writers including Best New Bands’ London correspondent, Tony Hardy, will help compile a long list of 120 acts. This will then be whittled down to a shortlist of just eight artists by judges including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis. To decide the outright winner, the last eight standing then battle it out in April at the live finals held at Pilton Working Men’s Club, close to the Worthy Farm festival site.
In both 2014 and 2015, all eight finalists were offered slots at that year’s Festival, so to any band or singer out there the stage could really be yours at Glastonbury 2016.
Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis commented: “New music has always been a huge part of what we do at Glastonbury, and the Emerging Talent Competition has become an incredible way for us to discover – and help draw attention to – the very latest talent.”
Vanessa Reed Executive Director of PRS for Music Foundation, the UK’s leading charitable funder of new music and talent development across all genres, added: “This is a brilliant opportunity for up-and-coming music creators from across the UK to get vital support at an early stage in their music careers, to develop their talent and also perform at the iconic Glastonbury festival. We’re looking forward to seeing which talented new artists apply.”
Tony Hardy
Tony’s great passion in life is music and nothing gives him more pleasure than unearthing good, original new music and championing independent musicians. His association with Best New Bands brings great opportunities for this. He also writes for Consequence of Sound and is a judge for Glastonbury Festival’s Emerging Talent Competition.
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