TOP 10 SONGS OF THE YOUNG SONGWRITER 2024 COMPETITION
The Young Songwriter 2024 judges include: Eg White, Miranda Cooper, Naughty Boy, MNEK, Lost Boy, Dan Gillespie Sells, Cathy Dennis, Hannah V, Plested, Jimmy Napes, Jon Maguire, Connie Talbot, Emily Phillips & Nina Nesbitt.
Drumroll please! The top 10 songs of the hotly contested Song Academy Young Songwriter 2024 competition, in its 14th year, have now been revealed. This year’s competition attracted over 1,000 high quality entries (a 20% increase on 2023) from aspiring young songwriters aged 8-22 across the world, both experienced young songwriters and those who’ve written their first song. Song Academy is turning up the volume on empowering & uniting youth across the world!
Emily Phillips, songwriter and lead judge of The Young Songwriter 2024 competition said “Each year, the hardest part of judging is selecting the top 10 from the top 30. By this point there is an attachment to all the chosen songs and therefore letting any go can be painful! The top 10 are carefully chosen to reflect the eclectic genres and the myriad qualities we are looking for within the songs. Originality, lyrical depth, melody, concepts, energy, confidence…the list goes on! The process of judging is not an exact science and given that the Beatles were turned down by 7 record companies, I hope the infallibility of the judges will give those whose songs haven’t made it to the top 10, even more confidence to continue writing. It is great fun judging the competition and I am so excited to have uncovered some wonderful talent and amazing new young writers. Good luck to everyone!”
Past Young Songwriter top 10 finalists have included: Gayle, Matilda Mann, Oscar Lang, Lexie Carroll, Wasia Project, Cassa Jackson, Tom A. Smith, Natalie Shay, Joshua Shea, Andrea Turk, Oscar Welsh, Cathy Jain, Sebastian Croft, Sophie Griffiths, Rosie Sullivan, Melanie Baker, Sweet Mylo, Hetta Falzon & Conor Marcus.
The Young Songwriter 2024 competition attracted a diverse group of aspiring young songwriters, helped this year by the bursary from UK Music, the collective voice of the UK’s world-leading music industry. Gender breakdown was: 62% of entrants were girls, 32% boys, 6% preferred not to say or had a unique gender identification. Entries were from across the entire UK/Ireland (71%) and around the world (29%). Age breakdown was: 11% aged 8-12, 21% aged 13-15, 41% aged 16-18 and 27% aged 19-22. 75% were from across the UK/Ireland (62% outside of London) and 25% internationally.
Listen to the top 10 songs on the Song Academy SoundCloud account! Plus the top 10 songs and young songwriters are SHOWN BELOW.
This year, since there are four age groups in the UK/Ireland category, we’ll be announcing the top 5 finalists in each category on the 11th July. These top 5 finalists will be invited to perform at The Young Songwriter 2024 live showcase held at The Tabernacle, Notting Hill, London, on Saturday 21st September 2024. In addition to these 20 finalists we’ll choose another 5-10 other finalists across the categories to perform. The winners will be announced on the night of The Young Songwriter 2024 showcase. Tickets to the showcase will be on sale from the 12th July.
The top 5 finalists in each age group of the international category will also be announced on the 11th July. These top 5 finalists will be part of our online international showcase on Sunday 22nd September at 2pm GMT, with the winners being announced at the international showcase.
Stay tuned to our social channels to hear the announcements first!
Naughty Boy (songwriter, producer, DJ and SAYS24 judge) says “Young songwriters are the future of music. A great song will always stand the test of time far beyond our years. I think this competition is important because every songwriter I’ve worked with was always waiting to be discovered.”
The next opportunity for young songwriters aged 11-18 is joining one of our residential songwriting summer camps from 7-10th August, in Surrey and 14-17th August in North Yorkshire, UK. There are a limited number of places available so please contact us soon! Click here for more info on our songwriting summer camps.
In addition, we offer an insightful song feedback service at a discounted price for all SAYS24 entrants. Click here for more information on how we can help you develop your songwriting talents.
Official sponsors of The Song Academy Young Songwriter 2024 competition are Shure, YouTube Music, PRS for Music, Focusrite, Soundtrap and ICMP.
CATEGORY: UK/IRELAND, 19-22 YEAR OLDS * TOP 10
ALBATROSS – FREDDY GILLMORE
BO PEEP – JEM WAX
BREAKFAST ON THE ROOF – ELLIE EVANS
CLOSE – LYDIA SHUTE
FREAK! – SHE’S MINE
GIRL ON A WALK – HAMISH OGILVY
MIRROR IMAGE – HARRY LUKE
RIGHT HANDS – BORRELLE
SECONDS – JAS RATCHFORD
YOU DON’T WANT ME ENOUGH – DAISY PEACOCK
CATEGORY: UK/IRELAND, 16-18 YEAR OLDS * TOP 10
A LETTER TO THE MOON – ISLA MAE
BACK TO SOHO – BILLY HOWARD
DARKNESS OF DECEMBER – ALEX LYONS
FRIO – CHUKSY AND DREAMM
GOD’S STARGIRL – SUFEEYAH
HIT REWIND – SAFFRON
LITTLE MAJOR – MIA WHITE
SCREEN SURENDER – TAMARA HENDIN
SERIOUS – SOPHIE FERIANI
SUMMER FEELING – JUST THE BRAVE
CATEGORY: UK/IRELAND, 13-15 YEAR OLDS * TOP 10
DROWNING IN LOVE – ARÑAV
FELL FOR YOU – SAMUEL KHANNA
MAKE IT GO SLOW – LOIS BROOKS
OH, THE SIMPLE THINGS – JOSEPH DAVIS
PRINCESS – STORM HENSHAW
SHE KNOWS – THE MONUMENTALS
SUPERNOVA – SAMMY ATTOUCHE
TEARING AT THE AIR – STRING ‘N’ BONE
WASTE OF TIME – CORA HARKIN
WE NEVER SAW IT COMING – JOHNNY BEAU
CATEGORY: UK/IRELAND, 8-12 YEAR OLDS * TOP 10
BOOM BOOM NO – YAELLE PRELI
DAVE IN THE BUSH – DJANGO EVANS COHEN
FIRST KISS – BETHAN TUDOR
HEARTBREAK MELODIES – BEN M MANSELL
HEDGEHOGS – GRETA RAWSON-COURAGE
HELLO – GEORGE HILTON
PICK UP THE PHONE – MICHELE LEVINSKI
SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS – TESS GOODFELLOW
STARLIGHT OF MY LIFE – LEONORA SIMMONDS-HEINS
U AND I – REY
CATEGORY: INTERNATIONAL, 19-22 YEAR OLDS * TOP 10
ALONE – TDM
CALIFORNIA – ALLY CRIBB
DIRECTIONS – MAYA
I WROTE THIS SONG – LINDSAY LIEBRO
LANDLINE – BENJAMIN LEUNG
MY ????!!?!?? THERAPY – LAST MINUTE
OVERTHINK – MARLON VICENTINI
POURING INTO YOU – ANGE-BELLA
SERIOUS – QUEEN MAHORO
THIRTY SECONDS – ALEXINE
CATEGORY: INTERNATIONAL, 13-18 YEAR OLDS * TOP 10
DELUSION – EDIE YVONNE
ETERNAL – EDEN
JUST A PHASE – SUMMER BENNETT
LOST – ORYAN BOROCHOV
MATCHBOOK – SUMMER BRENNAN
PILE OF DOLLS – INDI-LEE
RAGNAROK COMES – LILIAN VAN WYK
TELL ME – CASSIA YAP
WILDFLOWER – ZACHARY ZWELLING
WISHING STAR – DERE ARAT
CATEGORY: INTERNATIONAL, 8-12 YEAR OLDS * TOP 10
CHOOSE LOVE – REMY ADAIR
EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD – HARLEY DOW
HAPPILY EVER AFTER – LILIA ASHA WHEELER
HARD TO BREATHE – LEYLA SABO
NINE ONE ONE – SAGA
REALLY LIKE THE DAY – SIERRA
SHINE – AASTHA VAKIL
THE TOP – MUTSAWASHE CHIPOYI
THIS IS ME – ANLI STRYDOM
WITHOUT YOU – ELLIE VERTIACHIKH
Paul Crognale, Associate Director, Global Marketing at Shure said “We are thrilled to join SAYS24 and empower the next generation of songwriters, producers, and musicians. While Shure has maintained its position as a leader in professional audio technology on the world’s biggest stages, we also want to recognize and support those starting out in their careers. By partnering with Song Academy, we have the chance to directly engage with young individuals, encouraging them to express themselves, be heard, and sound extraordinary.”
Kenny Barber, Relationship Manager – Black Music, PRS for Music, said: “In supporting the voices that will shape our future industry, PRS for Music is investing not just in music but in the dreams, aspirations, and boundless potential of the next generation of songwriters and composers. We look forward to hearing the unique melodies, harmonies and lyrics that are entered and encourage all young people to seize this opportunity and submit their original songs!”
Rowena Atkins, Founder & CEO of Song Academy said “The Young Songwriter 2024 competition is a golden opportunity for young people to not only get recognition for their creative talent but also connect and be inspired by other aspiring young songwriters writing songs in their bedrooms around the world. We vision a world where all young people feel confident in who they are, celebrating their individuality, feeling empowered by sharing what’s important to them and creating their united future.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
SONG ACADEMY – The Sound Of Youth Empowement
Founded 15 years ago, Song Academy is the leading songwriting platform for young people aged 8-22. Our vision is for every young person, across all backgrounds to have faith in themselves. Song Academy uses the power of songwriting and community to empower young people to express themselves, finding their voice and their tribe.
Song Academy programmes include weekly songwriting clubs, holiday workshops, summer camps, song feedback reports, school songwriting workshops, mentoring programme and The Young Songwriter competition.
We nurture the next generation of creative leaders (young songwriters, artists, musicians, producers & creative thinkers) who will be shaping the future. We believe that Song Academy makes a significant addition to the pipeline of new talented songwriters/artists/producers – creating a diverse and equal music industry where mental health is a priority.
