NSAI SONG CONTEST PRESENTED BY CMT - Celebrating 10th Anniversary

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Top40 Charts/ NSAI) - The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) announces the 10th Anniversary of the NSAI Song Contest Presented by CMT. Kicking off August 1 and running through October 31, 2009, the contest boasts unparalleled career-building industry relationships designed to help unsigned songwriters navigate the road to becoming professional hitmakers. The Grand Prize Winner will receive an exclusive mentoring session with The Valory Music Co. recording artist Jewel.

'By offering meetings with major publishers, we don't just get aspiring songwriters' feet in the door; we rip the door off its hinges and create an opportunity for them to build relationships with top-notch songwriters, publishers and music industry executives that would normally take years to establish. As we celebrate our 10th Anniversary, we hope to continue that trend and build upon NSAI's legacy of educating, promoting and protecting songwriters in all genres,' says NSAI Executive Director Bart Herbison.

Entering its 10th year, NSAI has created - along with CMT for the past four years - a nationwide platform for aspiring songwriters to submit their best tunes with one Grand Prize Winner and one CMT Listeners' Choice Winner. Past winners understand this is a powerful vehicle to get 'discovered' and have found success from signing an artist development deal with DreamWorks Records to securing a music-publishing staff writer deal.

Nashville pro writers, publishers and industry professionals will narrow down the finalists over three rounds of judging and select the Grand Prize Winner, 10 Runners-Up and 10 Honorable Mentions before the Top 10 (excluding the Grand Prize Winner) are posted on www.nsai.cmt.com. Fans can vote online for their favorite song from January 20 through February 26, 2010. Last year there were more than 94,000 votes for the CMT Listeners' Choice.

In addition to the mentoring session with Jewel, prizes include a single-song professional demo, tickets to the 2011 CMT Music Awards, a private tour of CMT studios, a performance at the legendary Bluebird Cafe', meetings with major music publishers and a one-year membership to NSAI, just to name a few. Take advantage of this opportunity to launch a songwriting career. For a full list of prizes and how to enter, visit www.nsai.cmt.com.
All genres of music are encouraged. The entry fees are $35.00 (NSAI members) and $45.00 (non-members) per song submitted. Proceeds benefit the NSAI Legislative Fund to protect the rights of songwriters.