The ASCAP/MPL Paul McCartney Scholarship for Best Arrangement (the “Award”) seeks to recognize talented young arrangers. The Award is co-sponsored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (“ASCAP”) and MPL Communications, Inc. (“MPL”).
The specific details and requirements of Award are set forth below. The Award is subject to the ASCAP/MPL Paul McCartney Scholarship for Best Arrangement Official Awards General Rules and Regulations (the “Rules”). To the extent not specifically defined below, all capitalized terms have the meaning set forth in the Rules.
The Award is open to young composers and arrangers (each, an “Entrant”) who are not yet 30 years of age as of December 31, 2019. To be eligible to enter, Entrants must be, at the time of entry: (a) enrolled in college, university, music conservatory or other similar educational institution; and (b) a U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident or the holder of valid current U.S. student visa; and (c) at least 18 years of age (or the age of majority in their jurisdiction of permanent legal residence).
The Application Period begins at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern time) on June 10, 2019 and ends at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern time) and September 13, 2019. Hard copy materials must be postmarked no later than September 13, 2019.
To be considered for the Award, Entrants must create an original arrangement (the “Arrangement”) of one of the 48 musical compositions (each, an “Eligible Composition”) written or co-written by Paul McCartney and made available by MPL at https://www.mplcommunications.com/ascap-mccartney-contest (the “MPL Competition Page”). The Arrangement must be entirely Entrant’s original work (i.e., no sampling). Entrants may select only one Eligible Composition for their Arrangement. The Arrangement must include a minimum of three parts. The Arrangement is not required to include lyrics, but if lyrics are included, the Arrangement may only include original lyrics of the Eligible Composition selected by the Entrant.
MPL has made available to Entrants, solely for the purposes of entering into the Award process and for no other purposes, (a) a playlist comprised of the sound recordings of the Eligible Compositions, which playlist shall be available for streaming via the MPL Competition Page, and (b) the sheet music for the Eligible Compositions, which shall be available for download via a link on the MPL Competition Page (sub-sections (a) and (b), collectively, the “MPL Materials”).
Entrant may use the MPL Materials solely for purposes of entering into the Award process during the Application Period in accordance with the Official Rules, except as otherwise agreed by MPL in writing. Except for Entrant’s limited right to use the MPL Materials as set forth in the immediately preceding sentence, MPL (and/or its licensors, suppliers and/or partners) retains all right, title and interest in and to the MPL Materials, including, without limitation, all intellectual property rights therein and thereto. For the avoidance of doubt, Entrant shall have no right to use the MPL Materials (including, without limitation, as incorporated in any Arrangement or other derivative works based upon or derived from the MPL Materials by Entrant for purposes of entering the Awards process) after the expiration of the Application Period, except as otherwise agreed by MPL in writing. Any inquiries or requests regarding additional usage rights to the MPL Materials should be directed to MPL at inquiry@mplcommunications.com. For the avoidance of doubt, MPL is not obligated to respond to any such request and may refuse any such request in its sole discretion.
To be considered for the Award, Entrants must: (a) complete and electronically submit an application (the “Online Application”) available at https://www.ascap.com/music-career/Competitions/paul-mccartney, which must include a URL for an electronic realization or recording of the Arrangement, and (b) submit the following materials in hard copy to ASCAP: (i) a bound score (copy, not original manuscript) of the Arrangement (the “Score”); (ii) a biography and list of other works; and (iii) a print-out of the Online Application (clauses (a) and (b), collectively, the “Submission”).
All Submission materials must separately bear the Entrant’s name. Entrants can submit only one Submission. Additional Submissions will not be considered.
Please send all hard copy materials (and inquiries) to:
Cia Toscanini, Vice President, Concert Music
ASCAP/MPL Paul McCartney Scholarship for Best Arrangement
250 West 57th Street
New York, New York 10107
Tel. 212.621.6329 • Email: concertmusic@ascap.com
Each eligible Submission will be reviewed by a panel appointed by ASCAP and MPL consisting of at least three ASCAP composer members (collectively, the “Panel”). Depending on the number of Submissions, ASCAP and MPL reserve the right to appoint a preliminary panel consisting of ASCAP composer members to conduct an initial screening of Submissions. Arrangements will be evaluated based on the significance and overall artistry and compositional elements of the Arrangement, with the weight of the judging on the merits of the instrumental components of the Arrangement. The Panel (including any preliminary panel) is selected by ASCAP and the MPL in their sole discretions. Decisions of the Panel (including the selection of Award Recipient(s)) or any preliminary panel will be final and binding in all respects.
In accordance with the Judging Procedures and Criteria above, one eligible Entrant will be selected as the award recipient (the “Award Recipient”) and will receive a monetary Prize totaling $5,000.00 U.S.D., to be awarded in the form of a check payable to the winning entrant by MPL.
Notification Date of Award Recipients
January 13, 2020
