International Songwriting Competition (ISC) Announces 13 Judges And Former Winners Among 55th Annual Grammy Awards Nominees

Nashville, TN (Top40 Charts) The International Songwriting Competition (ISC) is honored have nine of its current judges and four previous winners represented with an astounding combined total of twenty two nominations for the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards. As the highest accolade in the music industry, the GRAMMY Awards represent a standard of excellence given by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and annually honor outstanding achievement by composers, songwriters, and artists alike.

The following nominees are current 2012 ISC judges:
Janelle Monáe - Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Tom Waits - Best Alternative Music Album
Avicii - Best Dance Recording
Anthony Hamilton - Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album
Nas - Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Album, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
Toots and The Maytals - Best Reggae Album
Anoushka Shankar - Best World Album
Ketch Secor (Old Crow Medicine Show) - Best Long Form Music Video
Tegan & Sara - Best Long Form Music Video
The following nominees are previous ISC winners:
Gotye - Record of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best Alternative Album
Kimbra - Record of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Bill Harley - Best Children's Album
Gregory Porter - Best Traditional R&B Performance

Called "the songwriting competition to take note of" by the New York Times, ISC was established in 2002 and awards more than $150,000 in cash and prizes to amateur and professional songwriters around the globe. ISC is an annual songwriting competition whose mission is to provide the opportunity for both aspiring and established songwriters to have their songs heard in a professional, international arena and is designed to nurture the musical talent of songwriters on all levels and promote excellence in the art of songwriting. Amateur and professional songwriters and musicians are invited to participate. ISC has the most prestigious panel of judges of all the songwriting and music competitions in the world, offering artists exposure and the opportunity to have their songs heard by the most influential decision makers in the music industry.

For more information, please visit https://www.songwritingcompetition.com

2012 ISC JUDGES
RECORDING ARTISTS
Tom Waits; Jeff Beck; Nas; Martina McBride; Bruce Hornsby; Darryl McDaniels (Run DMC); Robert Smith (The Cure); Mark Foster (Foster The People); Keane; Bernie Taupin (Lyricist for Elton John); Simon Le Bon & Roger Taylor (Duran Duran); Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi; AVICII; Suzanne Vega; Anthony Hamilton; Los Temerarios; Chris Hillman (The Byrds & The Flying Burrito Brothers); Francesca Battistelli; Anoushka Shankar; James Cotton; Brian Setzer; Wynonna; Tegan and Sara; Craig Morgan; McCoy Tyner; Michael W. Smith; Black Francis (The Pixies); Ketch Secor (Old Crow Medicine Show) Matt Thiessen (Relient K); Gerald Casale (Devo); John Mayall; Bill Evans; Alejandro Sanz; Toots Hibbert (Toots & The Maytals); Robert Earl Keen; Jeremy Camp; Billy Currington; Sandra Bernhard; Janelle Monae; Basement Jaxx

INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES
Monte Lipman (President, Universal Republic Records); Allison Jones (VP A&R, Big Machine Records); Alison Donald (Co-President, Columbia Records, U.K.); Dan McCarroll (President, Capitol/Virgin Label Group); Jonas Nachsin (President, Roadrunner Records); Angel Carrasco (Sr. VP A&R, Latin America Sony Music and President, Discos 605); Ed Vetri (President, Wind-Up Records); Kim Buie (A&R and Artist Manager, Thirty Tigers Management); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Dan Storper (President, Putumayo World Music Records); Steve Lillywhite (Producer - credits include U2, The Rolling Stones, Morrissey, Peter Gabriel, and more); Jack Vaughn (VP of Comedy Central Records); Albert Schilcher (VP, Talent and Music, MTV International); Anastasia Brown (Music Supervisor, FORMAT); Lori Teig (VP of Talent, VEVO); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment); Brian Malouf (Cookie Jar Recording); Richard Stumpf (President, Imagem Music Publishing); Dr. Demento (Radio Host of The Dr. Demento Show); Jamie Masada (Owner, The Laugh Factory); Doug Cohn (Sr. VP, Music Marketing & Talent of Nickelodeon); Leib Ostrow (Founder/CEO Music For Little People); Steve Smith (VP A&R/Manager, Aware Records & A-Squared Management)

CATEGORIES
Adult Album Alternative (AAA), Adult Contemporary (AC), Americana, Blues, Children's Music, Comedy/Novelty, Country, Dance/Electronica, Folk/Singer-Songwriter, Gospel/Christian, Instrumental, Jazz, Latin Music, Lyrics Only, Music Video, Pop/Top 40, Performance, R&B/Hip-Hop, Rock, Teen, Unsigned Only, and World Music.

SPONSORS
Presonus, Lowden, Marshall Amplification, Grooveshark, Solid State Logic, Berklee College Of Music, Mrs. Fields Cookies, Airplay Direct, DiscMakers, Thayers, SongU.com, The Music Business Registry, Independent Mastering, Indie Venue Bible, George Stein, Esq., Sonicbids, Songtrust, and Taxi