The John Lennon Songwriting Contest announces Power to the People, a weekly opportunity for songwriters to win home studio gear and instruments, and qualify for entry in the annual contest with over $300,000 in cash awards and prizes, and the $20,000 Song of the Year.
Songwriters can enter each week by Sunday at 11:59PM PDT, with Power to the People winners chosen randomly and announced on Mondays at 2PM EDT during the Lennon Bus Instagram Live event with celebrity guests, music experts, JLSC winners and entrants, and more.
This week’s winner, Josh Berkeley’s poignant and heart wrenching song is entitled “Black Skin”. The Grenada-born singer/songwriter said, “The creation of this song was a very emotional and tearful experience for me. I cried, while writing the lyrics and also while recording. The beautiful piano part was done by my talented friend Suwon Yim and vocal recording and songwriting by myself.” As a further testament to the times in which we are living, the music video was produced remotely and globally – Yim, a Berklee College of Music graduate, is in South Korea, Berkeley in Hartford, CT and the video production and editing was done by Emmanuel Boadi in the UK. To see and hear “Black Skin” and get all the contest rules go to https://jlsc.com/powertothepeople.php.
Songwriters have always been at the forefront of free speech and social change as exemplified by the music, art and activism of John Lennon and his wife and partner, Yoko Ono Lennon. The Power to the People opportunity is open to any genre or style of music. Weekly prizes are designed to get home studio gear and musical instruments into the hands of songwriters looking for new ways to express themselves and get their music heard.
Lennon Contest sponsors provide a vast array of equipment and instruments including Audio-Technica headphones and microphones, FocusRite Plug-ins, Genelec monitors, K&M Stands, Neutrik custom cables and connectors, OWC storage solutions, Reason Studios, Sonicbids membership, Yamaha Guitars and Keyboards, and a digital subscription to Guitar Player or one of its sister publications.
Proceeds from the John Lennon Songwriting Contest benefit the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, the non-profit mobile recording studio dedicated to providing young people across the U.S. with free hands-on opportunities to create original music, videos, and short films reflective of their ideas and concerns.
