ORGANISERS of the Glastonbury Festival have announced details of this year's Emerging Talent Competition - which will see the winner on the bill on one of the event's main stages.

Supported by PRS for Music and the PRS Foundation, the competition is open to new UK and Ireland-based acts of any musical genre and as well as a slot on a main stage, the free-to-enter competition also offers winners a £5,000 talent development prize to help take their songwriting and performing to the next level.

Two runners-up will also each be awarded a £2,500 PRS Foundation Talent Development prize.

Entries for the competition will be open for just a week - from 9am Monday, January 30 until 5pm on Monday, February 6 - via www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk.

Recent Emerging Talent Competition finalists include R&B singer Izzy Bizu and singer-songwriter Declan McKenna, who won in 2015 and has since signed with Columbia.

Last year’s winners were politically-charged Merseyside band She Drew The Gun, who have since released a critically-acclaimed debut album.

Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis said: “New music is at the very heart of what we do here at Glastonbury.

"The Emerging Talent Competition has become such an important way for us to find the next wave of talent from across the genres, and then help to shine a light on it.

"I’m really excited to hear this year’s entries.”

To enter, acts will need to supply a link to one original song on SoundCloud, plus a link to a video of themselves performing live - even if it’s only recorded in a bedroom.

Once the entries are in, a panel of 40 of the UK’s best music writers will help compile a longlist of 120 acts.

The longlist will then be whittled down to a shortlist of eight by judges including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis, before the live finals at Pilton Working Men’s Club in April decide the winning act.

For the past three years, all eight of the finalists were offered slots at that year’s festival, which takes place at Worthy Farm, Pilton, across the last weekend in June.


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Paul Clements, commercial director for PRS for Music, said: “I am delighted that PRS for Music is once again partnering with Glastonbury Festival for the Emerging Talent Competition – a brilliant initiative that paves the way for many artists at the beginning of their careers.

"We are all looking forward to seeing which new talents rise out of such a fantastic contest.”

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And Vanessa Reed, executive director of the PRS Foundation, said: “The Emerging Talent Competition is a fantastic opportunity for talented up and coming artists to receive vital support to develop their careers and perform at the iconic Glastonbury Festival.

"The level of talent each year has been consistently high with recent winner Declan McKenna signing to Columbia, with international festival bookings under his belt, and last year’s winner She Drew the Gun supporting The Coral at Shepherd’s Bush Empire last month following shows in Korea last year.

"We’re looking forward to seeing which exciting new artists apply this year.”