Glastonbury Festival announces Emerging Talent Competition 2019

Glastonbury Festival organisers have announced the return of their annual Emerging Talent Competition for 2019.

Supported in conjunction with PRS for Music and the PRS Foundation, the competition gives new UK and Ireland-based acts of any musical genre the opportunity to compete for a slot on one of the main stages at this year’s festival.

The winners of the free-to-enter competition will also be awarded a £5,000 Talent Development prize from PRS Foundation 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.

Many previous ETC winners have continued on to great success – 2015’s Declan McKenna and 2014’s Izzy Bizu have both released their own albums with having sold-out tours. Whilst 2017’s winner Josh Barry has since toured with Rag’n’Bone Man and Gorgon City and is due to release his debut album this year.

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. A panel will then help compile a longlist of 90 acts, itself which will then be narrowed down to a shortlist of eight artists by judges (including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis). The live finals will take place in Pilton in April where the winning act will be announced. For the past four competitions, all eight of the finalists were offered slots at that year’s Festival.

“After our year off, we can’t wait to hear the latest crop of undiscovered music that’s out there” says Glastonbury’s Emily Eavis – “new music is hugely important to what this Festival is about, and the Emerging Talent Competition has helped us to unearth so many incredible artists from across the genres. Bring on the entries!”

The window for the 2019 Emerging Talent Competition opens on Monday 28th January, and closes at 5pm 4th February. Those who wish to enter can head over to Glastonbury’s ETC page for more info.