Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition
# Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition

The Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition is an annual competition that "acknowledges great songwriting whilst supporting and raising money for Nordoff-Robbins" and is coordinated by Albert Music and APRA AMCOS. The competition awards a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place and was named after iconic writers Harry Vanda and George Young, known as Vanda & Young.

The competition is Australia's most prestigious and lucrative songwriting competition. The inaugural competition took place in December 2009, with Megan Washington winning with the song "How to Tame Lions".

## Background

In 2009 independent music company Albert Music collaborated with APRA AMCOS to establish an international songwriter's competition. The competition open to all songwriters – published or unpublished, and all proceeds raised by the Vanda & Young Global Song writing Competition go to not-for-profit organisation Noro Music Therapy Australia (NRMTA), which uses music therapy to help people cope with the struggles of living with a wide range of needs.

The winners are selected by a panel of experts from a cross-section of industries.

The 2014's competition include an Encouragement Award with a cash prize of $2,000 which was donated by 2013 winners, The Preatures.

As of 2020, 1st place receives a $50,000 cash prize, 2nd place receives $10,000 and 3rd place receives $5,000. The Emerging Songwriter winner receives $5,000 courtesy Australasian Music Publishers Association.

## Past winners

List of top three from each year as listed on the APRA AMCOS website.

| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Unpublished prize |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 2009 | Megan Washington – "How to Tame Lions" | Eskimo Joe (Kav Temperley, Joel Quartermain and Stuart Macleod) – "Foreign Land" | Caitlin Harnett – "Tying Hands and Holding Shoelaces" | — |
| 2010 | No competition | No competition | No competition | No competition |
| 2011 | Kimbra – "Cameo Lover" | Catherine Britt – "Sweet Emmylou" | Gotye – "Somebody That I Used to Know" | — |
| 2012 | No competition | No competition | No competition | No competition |
| 2013 | Isabella Manfredi (The Preatures) – "Is This How You Feel?" | Robert Conley – "Paper Thin" | Thelma Plum – "Breathe in Breathe Out" & Jasmine Nelson – "Keep Her Close" (tie) | — |
| 2014 | Husky Gawenda – "Saint Joan" | Meg Mac – "Roll Up Your Sleeves" | David Le'aupepe (Gang of Youths) – "Poison Drum" | Andy Bull – "Baby I Am Nobody Now" (Encouragement Award) |
| 2015 | No competition | No competition | No competition | No competition |
| 2016 | Gretta Ray – "Drive" | Emma Louise – "Underflow" | Tigertown (Charlene Collins/Christopher Collins) "Lonely Cities" & Tia P. "4 Seats from Beyoncé" (tie) | — |
| 2018 | Amy Shark "Adore" | David Le'aupepe (Gang of Youths) – "Let Me Down Easy" | David Le'aupepe (Gang of Youths) – "The Heart Is a Muscle" | Grace Shaw – "Better" |
| 2019 | Matt Corby and Dann Hume – "Miracle Love" | Sarah Aarons – "The Middle" | Sahara Beck – "Here We Go Again" | Kaiit – "Miss Shiney" |
| 2020 | Thelma Plum – "Better in Blak" | Baker Boy, (aka Danzal Baker) "Meditjin" | Ruel – "Painkiller" | Carla Geneve – "The Right Reasons" |
| 2021 | Genesis Owusu – "Gold Chains" | Jerome Farah – "Mikey Might" | MAY-A – "Time I Love to Waste" | |
| 2022 | King Stingray – "Milkumana" | Budjerah – "Ready for the Sky" | King Stingray - "Camp Dog" | Charley - "Worst Taste in Girls" |
