FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Candace Avery
International Songwriting Competition
615.251.4441
Canadian Songwriters Honored In US-Based International Songwriting Competition (ISC)
Judges Include Lorde, Hardwell, Tom Waits, Nancy Wilson (Heart), Ziggy Marley, Kaskade, The Mavericks, Martie Maguire (Dixie Chicks), Bastille, and More
April 18, 2018 -- The International Songwriting Competition (ISC is pleased to announce its 2017 winners. Created in 2002, ISC is widely recognized as the most prestigious and respected songwriting competition in the world and received more than16,000 entries from almost 140 countries. Prizes include more than $175,000 in cash and merchandise.
The Grand Prize winners this year are Nicholas Miller (better known as Illenium), Annika Wells, Kate Morgan, and Michael Biancaniello for the song “Crawl Outta Love Ft. Annika Wells." The Grand Prize consists of $25,000 in cash (USD) and over $35,000 in additional prizes.
Winners hail from all over the world (61% of this year’s winners come from outside the USA) and range from talented amateurs to seasoned songwriting veterans. The 23 categories include all genres of contemporary music, from Rock to Pop to Country to R&B/Hip-Hop and more.
Canadian songwriters fared extremely well in ISC, garnering four First Places and three Third Places. Canadian winners also received 39 Honorable Mentions.
“This marks the first time in the competition’s history that Canadian songwriters have scored four First Places in categories,” says Candace Avery, ISC Founder and Director. “It takes a lot of dedication and hard work to write great songs, and ISC is honored to throw the spotlight on these talented Canadian songwriters and their achievements.”
Over the years ISC winners have included: Vance Joy, Bastille, Passenger, Kate Miller-Heidke, Lindsey Stirling, Gotye, The Band Perry, Kasey Chambers, Lupe Fiasco, Rachel Bloom, Gin Wigmore, Kimbra, Gregory Porter, Kehlani, For King & Country, and many more.
For a complete list of ISC 2017 winners and to hear the winning songs, go to: https://www.
The complete panel of judges includes:
Recording Artists
Lorde; Tom Waits; Ziggy Marley; American Authors; Nancy Wilson (Heart); Martie Maguire (Dixie Chicks); Booker T. Jones; The Mavericks; Sara Evans; Bastille; Keane; Hardwell; Danilo Perez; James McNally (Afro Celt Sound System); Billy Cobham; Gerald Casale (Devo); Natalie Grant Lee-Phillips; ; Krewella; Matt Nathanson; Amadou & Miriam; John Tibbs; Kaskade; John Mayall; Joe Louis Walker; Nicholas Gunn; Ashwin Batish; Lonnie Liston Smith; Walter Trout; Trilok Gurtu; Tommy Chong; and Tony Joe White.
Industry Executives:
Gregg Nadel (President, Elektra Records); Seymour Stein (Chairman/CEO, Sire Records); Daniel Glass (President, Glassnote Records); John Esposito (Chairman/CEO, Warner Music Nashville); John Burk (President, Concord Label Group); Ed Vetri (President, Wind-Up Records); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Steve Yegelwel (Sr. VP, Island Records); Nate Albert (Executive VP of A&R, Capitol Records); Jacob Edgar (Founder, Cumbancha); Aaron Bay-Schuck (President of A&R, Interscope Records); Mike Easterlin (President, Fueled By Ramen/Roadrunner Records); Josh Bailey (Senior VP of A&R, Word Entertainment); Gordon Kerr (CEO, Black River Entertainment); Richard Stumpf (CEO, Atlas Publishing); Steve Greenberg (CEO, S-Curve Records); Kim Buie (VP of A&R, New West Records); AJ Tobey (Head of A&R, Rough Trade Publishing); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment); Angel Carrasco (Latin Music Consultant); Julie Kertes (Editor/Manager, Hot Diggity Media); Laura Margolin (Publishing, Glassnote Records); Leib Ostrow (Founder/CEO, Music For Little People); Katherine Danes (Co-President, The Children’s Music Network); Claire S. Green (President, Parent’s Choice Foundation); Benjamin Groff (Founder, The Brill Building); Sas Metcalfe (President, Global Creative, Kobalt Music); Golnar Khosrowshahi (President, Reservoir Media Management); Carianne Marshall (Partner, Songs Music Publishing); Tamara Conniff (EVP, Roc Nation); Dara Frank (Head of Comedy Central Records/Viacom); Carl Caprioglio (Founder/CEO, Oglio Entertainment); and Elena Epstein (Director, National Parenting Product Awards).
ISC is sponsored by: AKG By Harman; Berklee College of Music; Celebrity Access; D'Addario; Dark Horse Institute; Disc Makers; Eventric; Gig Salad; JBL Professional by Harman; Lurrsen Mastering; Merch Cat; Musician Wellness; Musician’s Institute; ONErpm; PreSonus; SongU.com; Sweetwater Sound; PAWW Premium Sound; and Tunedly.
Entries are now open for the 2018 competition. For more information and to enter, go to http://www.
For low-res photos of all winners, go to http://www.
For high-res photos, please contact Candace Avery at press@songwritingcompetition.
The list of 2017 Canadian winners is as follows:
First Place Winners
“Knock On My Door“ – Faouzia Ouihya (Faouzia) Carman, MB, Canada – Teen
Born in Morocco and raised in the Canadian prairies, Faouzia is a young artist who is wowing audiences and industry alike with her contemporary pop hooks and heart-wrenching lyrics, not to mention a voice that is truly distinctive with a huge range, taking on subtle trills and stylings. Her first single “Knock On My Door” found its way onto regular rotation at Canadian radio, and the follow up “My Heart’s Grave” is already seeing adds in both Canada and her native Morocco. Already a multiple award winner in ISC, as well as the Grand Prize winner of the 2017 Unsigned Only Music Competition, Faouzia is an up-and-coming artistic force whose star just keeps shining brighter.
“Sheep“ – Darrelle London Toronto, ON, Canada – Children's Music
A piano pop singer/songwriter, Darrelle London is known for her clever quirkiness and has performed at festivals such as Lilith Fair, Canadian Music Week, Pop Overthrow, and more. She was named the Toronto Lilith Talent Search winner and the BellMedia Emerging Artist. London has attracted some celebrity supporters along the way, including fellow Canadian songstress Chantal Kreviazuk who discovered her music and collaborated with her on several songs for London’s album Eat A Peach. The celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has also been a vocal champion of her music. Her latest album is a lullaby EP entitled Sing To The Moon.
“This Little Light“ – Jaylene Johnson Winnipeg, MB, Canada – Christian
Jaylene Johnson, is a singer/songwriter based in Winnipeg, MB. Her song, "Fallin'" took second place in the ISC last year in the Christian category. Her work has been heard on network TV shows including “Pretty Little Liars”, “So You Think You Can Dance”, and “Degrassi: The Next Generation”. Co-written songs have been recorded by artists including JJ Heller, Amy Sky, Brian Doerksen and Luke McMaster among others. Her most recent album, Potter & Clay, was nominated for a Juno Award, a Western Canadian Music Award, and several Covenant Awards. Two of her songs earned songwriting trophies at the Covenant Awards this year.
“Untouchable“ – Dylan Edward Roberts (King Dylan) Calgary, AB, Canada – Music Video
The winner of the Music Video category for his stop-motion animation video of the song “Untouchable,” King Dylan (the King didn't give himself that name - it was written in his high school yearbook) is best described as if Blink 182 had a lovechild with Eminem and Lady Gaga's backup dancers. This one-man machine has performed live for thousands across Canada and released a handful of albums and music videos. Previously he played bass guitar in the hard Rock band Broken Ride (Regional Radio Star winners 2013), performed in and produced the hip hop group The DC Show, and played piano for the band Lost In Film at CMW 2014. Dylan has also just finished a new full-length album featuring "Untouchable" and eleven other hard-hitting tracks. The award-winning video utilized over 4,000 photos of legos taken over the course of 450+ hours.
Third Place Winners
“Backroads” – Jimmy Zee (The Jimmy Zee Band) – Vanvouver, BC, Canada Blues
“Never Have Time” – Jared Salte, Bethany Salte (The Royal Foundry) – Sherwood Park, AB, Canada – Rock
“Tequila” – Johnny Simmen, Hunter Leath, Matt McGinn – Toronto, ON, Canada – Country
Honorable Mentions
“A Flat Miner” – Troy Kokol – Calgary, AB, Canada – Comedy/Novelty
“Ambition” – Soul – Toronto, ON, Canada – R&B/Hip-Hop
“Ask Too Much Ft. Spence Holden” – Spencer Heaslip, Spence Milne-O'Neil (Taabu) – Dundas, ON, Canada – EDM (Electronic Dance Music)
“Baby, I Understand” – Kat Goldman – Toronto, ON, Canada – Folk/Singer-Songwriter
“Beautiful Thing” – Aaron Buchholz, Ian Eskelin – Langley, BC, Canada – Christian
“Booger Song” – Tim Machin (Sing Along Tim And The Pacifiers) – Toronto, ON, Canada – Children's Music
“Campfire ” – Dinah Desrochers, Aaron Cadwaladr, Phil Wipper, Jocelyn Hallett (The Kerplunks) – Gabriola Island, BC, Canada – Children's Music
“Chills” – James Barker, Donovan Woods, Travis Wood, Gavin Slate (James Barker Band) – Toronto, ON, Canada – Country
“Ciento Viente” – Roman Smirnov – Newmarket, ON, Canada – Instrumental
“Don't Give Up” – Maggie Szabo, Stefan Lit, Chaz Mason – Dundas, ON, Canada – Pop/Top 40
“Eleven! ” – Dylan Bell, Ed Hanley, Suba Sankaran (Autorickshaw) – Toronto, ON, Canada – Children's Music
“Fall In Love Again” – Chris Graham, Mikalyn Hay (Xtro And Mikalyn Hay) – Toronto, ON, Canada – Teen
“Firetruck Firetruck” – John Donnelly (Rockin' Robin And The Magical Tree) – Delta, BC, Canada – Children's Music
“Freedom” – Ariana Gillis – Vineland, ON, Canada – Folk/Singer-Songwriter
“Gamblin Man” – Richard Tichelman – Surrey, BC, Canada – Teen
“Good Thing Go” – Powell Peebles, Brett Sheroky, Andy Wills (Powell Peebles) – North Vancouver, BC, Canada – Country
“House On Fire” – Don Oriolo, Jason Gleed, Chris Bolger – Toronto, ON, Canada – Rock
“I Don't Want To Lose You” – Luca Fogale – Burnaby, BC, Canada – Performance
“Knock On My Door” – Faouzia Ouihya (Faouzia) – Carman, MB, Canada – Unsigned Only
“Lay It Down” – Jordan St. Cyr, Jaylene Johnson, Ben Calhoun, Taylor Watson – Niverville, MB, Canada – Christian
“Love It Up” – Tyler Lorette, Roberta Quilico – Courtice, ON, Canada – Performance
“Lowdown” – Matt Zimbel, Doug Wilde (Manteca) – Toronto, ON, Canada – Instrumental
“Move On Down The Track” – Spencer Mackenzie, Rich Mackenzie (Spencer Mackenzie) – Ridgeway, ON, Canada – Blues
“My Heart's Grave” – Faouzia Ouihya (Faouzia) – Carman, MB, Canada – Pop/Top 40
“My Heart's Grave” – Faouzia Ouihya (Faouzia) – Carman, MB, Canada – Teen
“Nosotros” – Christopher Alexander Gaitan Valencia (Ness El Digital) – Montreal, QC, Canada – Latin Music
“Roses” – Gus McMillan, Robyn Dell'Unto – (Gus McMIllan) – Toronto, ON, Canada – AC (Adult Contemporary)
“Sanctuary City” – Cat Toren (Cat Toren's HUMAN KIND) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – Jazz
“Sing For Kwanzaa” – Chris McKhool, Richard Bona (Sultans Of String) – Toronto, ON, Canada – World Music
“Summer” – Paula Eve Kirman – Edmonton, AB, Canada – Lyrics Only
“Temptation” – Debra Power – Airdrie, AB, Canada – Blues
“The Pee Song” – Jason Gleed (Redd Butts ) – Toronto, ON, Canada – Comedy/Novelty
“This Little Light” – Jaylene Johnson – Winnipeg, MB, Canada – Unpublished
“Three Words” – Sara Diamond, Austin Tecks, Noah Barer (Sarah Diamond) – Montreal, QC, Canada – Unpublished
“Unsure” – Sara Diamond, Austin Tecks, Noah Barer (Sarah Diamond) – Montreal, QC, Canada – Unsigned Only
“Untouchable” – Dylan Edward Roberts (King Dylan) – Calgary, AB, Canada – Unsigned Only
“What's A Boy Gotta Do” – Sean Thomas – Langley, BC, Canada – Teen
“When You Think No One Loves You ” – David Leask, Daryl Burgess (David Leask) – Mississauga, ON, Canada – Performance
“Worth It” – Wes Mason – Rockwood, ON, Canada – AC (Adult Contemporary)
