Dolly Parton Songwriters Award
for emerging songwriters
The Dolly Parton Songwriters Award is an annual, nationwide competition open to aspiring songwriters. The awards can be used as a career grant for study, instrument purchase, recording costs, or other professional expenses and are not restricted to tuition costs. Founding endowments include a lead gift from Sony Music Publishing's Rusty Gaston as well as a contribution from country superstar Luke Combs.
The award was established in 2015 as the Nashville Songwriting Scholarship by BMI to celebrate the company’s 75th Anniversary year. The revised program offers $20,000 for up to two of the best original song entries in any of the following genres: Americana, blues, bluegrass, contemporary Christian, country, folk, or roots. Judges for previous competitions have included GRAMMY-winning artist Kacey Musgraves, hit songwriter Rodney Clawson, and Nashville music industry veteran Mark Brown.
Eligibility Requirements
All applicants:
must be between the ages of 17 and 24 as of February 15, 2025.
must be in residence in the United States or its territories.
may only submit one application per BMI Foundation awards program.
may not submit the same musical work to more than one BMI Foundation awards program.
may only submit works that have not been assigned to any major music publisher or major record label.
may only apply if they have not previously won the Dolly Parton Songwriters Award or Nashville Songwriting Scholarship. (Honorable mention may apply again.)
Co-Written Works
If your work is co-written, it must meet the following requirements:
Co-written works can have no more than 3 total writers.
All co-writers must meet eligibility requirements.
One single songwriter of record must submit the application.
Songwriters can only be the writer of record on one submission.
Songwriters of record and their co-writers can also be co-writers on other submissions.
Awards will be split evenly among co-writers for co-written works, and co-writers will each receive the award.
Only songwriters should be listed as co-writers for the award. No other artists should be listed (performers, producers, etc.).
Application Requirements
One audio file and lyric sheet of an original song.
Lyrics can be in any language. If they are in a language other than English, please include an English translation.
APPLICATIONS DUE JANUARY 15, 2025