THE PRIZE

A prize for musicians and singer/songwriters aged 18-30 and resident in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man whose work demonstrates a true collaboration with nature. Entries will celebrate the human-nature relationship and showcase the inclusion of sounds of the natural world in the works as a way of treating nature as an equal musical collaborator. The track should not be longer than five minutes.

The Nature Connectedness Research Group at the University of Derby has teamed up with Yorkshire Sculpture Park, The Conservation Foundation, EarthPercent and Sounds Right, a global music initiative to recognise the value of nature, to offer a £500 winners prize for original music, from any genre, that celebrates, collaborates and connects with nature – helping to highlight the need for a new relationship with nature and provide vital support for young creative practitioners. The runner-up will receive £250.

The winning entry will also benefit from a professional remix with a recognised producer, including access to the one of the world’s best archives of field recordings of nature from The Listening Planet. The winner can opt in to have the remix featured as a new release on NATURE’s profile on major streaming platforms as part of the Sounds Right initiative, benefitting from significant promotion and marketing and featured on a special playlist, helping to raise funds for nature restoration and protection.

Inspiration: research shows that a closer relationship with nature comes through tuning into nature with our senses, responding with our emotions, appreciating beauty, celebrating meaning and activating our compassion for nature. We also seek to reverse the typically extractive relationship with nature that has been present across many creative sectors, and instead to recognize and reward nature as the artist she is. So, be creative in the nature sounds you include, from birdsong and rainfall to the sounds of the soil.

TIMELINE

Prize launches

00:01 13th October 2024

Deadline for entries

23:59 6th January 2025

Judging

January/February 2025

Winner announced

March 2025

JUDGING

Prize partners and the BBC will participate in listening to eligible entries and creating a longlist of around 40 entries. This will be reduced to a shortlist of 12 entries to go to the judging panel in order to select a winner. Shortlisted entries and the winner will be notified and then publicly announced. The judging criteria are:

COMPOSITION:

Creativity and standard of the composition, originality, arrangement, and production.

CONNECTION:

The ability of the music to connect with listeners on an emotional level.

For example the depth of the lyrics/message, expressiveness of the performance, and how effectively the music tells a nature connection story.

CELEBRATION:

of the human-nature relationship

COLLABORATION:

with nature through use of nature sounds.

ENTRY FORM

The deadline for entries is 11:59pm 6th January 2025

Entry is free and limited to one entry per act or artist based in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

The track must not have been commercially released at any point prior to 31 March 2025.
By entering the prize you are agreeing to the criteria and rules below.

THE RULES

The Tune into Nature Music Prize is run by prize partners EarthPercent and Sounds Right, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, The Conservation Foundation, and the Nature Connectedness Research Group at the University of Derby.
By entering the prize you are confirming that you have read and understood these terms and conditions.
By entering this prize you understand that only the artists/acts (e.g. individuals, duos or groups) with the best applications will be selected. Due to the quantity of entrants we are unable to give feedback, if you are unsuccessful you will not be contacted.
The prize judges will have the sole binding decision and no correspondence will be entered into.
In the event of multiple entries from one artist or act, the final entry will be considered.
Shortlisted entries will be given the opportunity to withdraw if the act/artist no longer wishes to be considered or is no longer eligible (see below).
Entrants whose work is shortlisted will be informed February 2025 and the winner March 2025. If the entrant cannot be contacted the prize can be re-awarded.
The prize partners and BBC are not responsible for any technical failures that may affect entry submission. SoundCloud (the platform for submitting tracks), has no responsibility for the administration of the prize.

Who can enter?

You must be resident in the UK or its crown dependencies (Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) and be aged between 18 and 30 on 6th January 2025.

Entrants cannot be signed to a major record label (for example: Sony, Warner, Universal and all affiliates) at the point of entering for the prize.

Employees of the prize organisers (Nature Connectedness Research Group at the University of Derby, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, The Conservation Foundation, EarthPercent and Sounds Right), the BBC and their immediate families are not eligible to enter.

The Standards Expected

The track should not be longer than five minutes. Entries over five minutes in length will not be considered.

In addition to standard instrumentation, the track must incorporate sounds from nature (e.g. recording of birdsong) and celebrate the human-nature relationship.

Generative AI should not be used in submissions.

Submitted tracks which are shortlisted must be available as high quality WAV or MP3 files.

Submitted tracks must be suitable for playing on a BBC music network (eg Radio 1, Radio 6 Music or Radio 3) so please ensure the music you upload doesn’t have explicit, discriminatory or inflammatory language. Your music also should not promote a commercial brand or entity.

As well as submitting a track you must provide your song lyrics (if your entry has lyrics); briefly (in 600 characters or less) tell us about your entry and why nature matters to you; and (in 600 characters or less) outline the nature sounds included in the track.

Submissions must be received between 00:01 13th October 2024 and 23:59 6th January 2025.

Entries not meeting the criteria will not be considered. The organisers reserve the right to disqualify any contestant or to withhold or withdraw a prize if, in its opinion, they are deemed to be acting outside the rules and /or spirit of the prize, or if the actions of applicants bring the prize organisers into disrepute. All decisions at the organiser’s sole discretion.

In addition, applicants consent to a radio version of their entry being created by the BBC (edited either for length or language as appropriate, in line with BBC Editorial Guidelines). Please note, the opportunity is for shortlisted tracks to be played on a BBC network station. There is no guarantee that all or any of the shortlisted tracks will be played and any broadcast of any entry is in the BBC’s absolute and sole discretion.

Submission Method

Submission for the Prize is via a Microsoft Form.

Applicants must have uploaded their track to the SoundCloud music platform, and provide a link to the submitted track in the form which will be shared with judges and shortlisting panel. See here for Soundcloud’s Terms and Conditions. SoundCloud retains no rights to the uploaded tracks and is not involved in the running of the Prize or affiliated with it.

Accessibility

The Prize organisers are committed to equality of access. If you have additional accessibility needs and require reasonable adjustments to the application process please contact ncrg@derby.ac.uk

Ownership
and Rights

All entrants agree to adhere to the following procedures and policies:

Originality and Ownership: By entering this prize, the entrant confirms that the submitted work is original and entirely their own. You must own the copyright in the music you upload or have permission (the rights) to upload it. This includes all compositions, lyrics, and any incorporated nature sounds and the prize partners reserve the right to carry out any appropriate checks including contacting the entrant in order to verify ownership of any element. The entrant retains the rights and copyright to their submitted work.
Rights and Permissions: The entrant affirms that they hold all necessary rights to the submitted work and that it does not infringe upon any third-party copyrights.
Broadcast Permission: You give the TiNMP permission to edit and use, host or store your entry for the Prize for the purpose of promoting you or the TiNMP. By entering, the entrant grants permission for the submitted track to be broadcast by the prize’s partners at partner venues and on their digital platforms without any additional compensation (other than performance income via the applicable collection societies (PRS and PPL) and you acknowledge that it is your responsibility to register your work with such societies if you are shortlisted and wish to receive the income). The applicant grants to the BBC a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual licence to broadcast their entry across all media (including use in all media now known or which may hereafter become known), including use on any online platforms. As outlined above, the applicant grants permission for the BBC to edit the entry to make it suitable for BBC broadcast. Applicants warrant that they have obtained all rights necessary to grant the BBC the licence and that their entry does not infringe the rights of any other party. The BBC accepts no liability if applicants ignore the prize rules and applicants agree to fully indemnify the BBC against any claims by any third party arising from any breach of these rules. For the avoidance of doubt, the BBC is under no obligation to broadcast any of the entries. If the winner chooses to opt-in to the Sounds Right initiative, they will grant a 5-year licence to EarthPercent in the track for inclusion in Sounds Right and agree to donate 50% of streaming royalties to the Sounds Right Conservation Fund. Full terms for the Sounds Right initiative are available from Sounds Right.

Data Protection

The information that you supply on the application form will be held in line with the UK GDPR/Data Protection Act 2018. See privacy notice on the entry form for details.

General Terms

Entrants must agree to participate in publicity if invited to do so.
The prizes are non-transferable.
The prize organisers reserve the right to amend the terms or cancel the Prize if necessary in their reasonable opinion.
The governing law for these rules is that of England and Wales.
You affirm that you are free to enter this prize and agree to the above rules. The prize partners accept no liability if you ignore these rules and you agree to fully indemnify the prize partners and the BBC against any claims by any third party arising from any breach of these rules. You agree that you have the legal capacity to agree to these rules and that in the event of any breach of this agreement by the prize partners you shall not be entitled to injunct the prize and your sole remedy shall be to withdraw your entry.
You agree to inform the prize partners via ncrg@derby.ac.uk of any significant change in your circumstances which could cause you, or the prize, reputational issues.