Rules and Regulations 

Each song submitted must have both instrumentation and lyrics.  
NO INSTRUMENTAL ONLY SONGS.  Song must have lyrics. 

If, 51% or more of Entrant’s Primary Source of Income is NOT derived from songwriting or publishing, then the song may be entered into The SMSWF Songwriters Contest.  

Income from performing music / gigs is not considered songwriting income.  
Songwriters may play their music on tour or sell their own CD/Albums.  
The Primary Source of Income requirement is defined as income that a person has been paid for written lyrics.  

If entrant is under 18 years old, the signature of a parent or guardian is required. 

All entries must be the original work of contestant and shall not infringe on any copyright or any other rights of any third party. Entrant may not enter any song that is owned, wholly or partly, by a publishing company. 

Song is not to be longer than 5 minutes in length.  If song exceeds the 5 minute limit, it will be disqualified.  It is the Entrant’s responsibility to submit only songs less than 5 minutes.  Remember entry fees are non-refundable. 

All entrants will be asked to sign an official Acknowledgement of Eligibility document.

It is entrant's responsibility to ensure that the submitted song(s) are complete and playable.   SMSWF is not responsible for late, lost, damaged, misdirected, postage due, stolen, incomplete, or misappropriated entries. 

All decisions of the judges and audience are final. 

All prizes will be awarded to the first name as it appears on the entry form.  Song can be the product of more than one singer/songwriter/musician, however, the fair division of awards and prizes will be the responsibility of the "first name" Entrant as the name appears on the entry form. 

The Smoky Mountains Songwriters Festival will post all results on its website and will notify entrants by e-mail that results are posted. Entrant is responsible for providing up-to-date and correct email addresses to SMSWF. SMSWF is not responsible for entrant's non-receipt of any SMSWF emails for any reason, including but not limited to, server or email malfunctions.

Winners will be required to sign an affidavit confirming that winner's song is original and he/she holds rights to the song. Failure to sign and return the form within the required time period or provision of false information may result in disqualification and an alternate winner may be selected. Affidavits are subject to verification by the Smoky Mountains Songwriters Festival and its agents. 

Entry constitutes permission to use winner's name, likeness, and voice for future advertising and publicity purposes without additional compensation.

Entrant retains all ownership rights to all submitted song(s).  The Smoky Mountains Songwriters Festival will not have any ownership rights to any song(s) submitted.

SMSWF reserves the right to extend the deadline.  Should the deadline be extended the entry fee will become $35 per song no additional song discounts.