2026 Acorn Singer-Songwriter Competition Submission Form
Thank you for entering the 2026 Acorn Singer-Songwriter Competition.  

The deadline for entry is Tuesday, April 28th @ 1pm ET.  

For complete Contest Rules and Guidelines please be sure you have visited our website. It is the responsibility of the entrant to understand the rules and submit all required materials before the deadline in order for their application to be considered.

Six Singer-Songwriters will be selected as Finalists to perform on Saturday, July 18th. 

Finalists will be notified by Thursday, June 4th and announced to the public by The Acorn on Thursday, June 18th. 

QUICK LIST | CONTEST RULES
You must read the complete list of Contest Rules and Guidelines at our website.
  • Submissions must include three original songs.
  • All lyrics and melody must be composed by you, with you singing the lead vocal.
  • We accept solo or duo submissions only. Your video entry must be representative of how your song(s) would be performed should you make the finals. (Examples: Do not submit a video of you performing your original song with your band. If you submit as a duo, you must perform as a duo.)
  • Video and audio quality need to be good enough for judges to conduct informed evaluations. Make sure we can see you and hear you!
  • On each song’s recording, do not say your name, nor the song’s title, nor any other intro.  Just record the song itself.
  • Video entries only. (Applications without video files will be considered incomplete submissions.)
  • Each song must have accompanying lyric sheets with song title and songwriter's name on each song. (Submissions not including lyrics will be considered incomplete.)
  • The use of AI is strictly prohibited. AI may NOT be used to compose any lyric or melody, nor for any aspect of your performance.
  • Travel to The Acorn is the responsibility of the performers.
Submissions are evaluated on song structure, lyrics, musicality, overall appeal, and the ability of the performer to sustain a full length show.

The top six finalists are chosen from the pool of submissions. Those six semi-finalists compete at the Singer-Songwriter Competition Finals, Saturday, July 18th, 7pm ET, in front of a panel of prestigious judges and Acorn patrons.

Finalists will perform their winning entry (chosen by our selection jury) and one other song from their submission in the first round. The panel of judges then narrows down to three Top Finalists.

Finalists are considered for other Acorn shows and recommended for other area events. Winner to receive $1,200, 2nd place/Runner-up $500, 3rd place $350, remaining 3 Finalists given $150.

Please read our FAQs for more information, or if you have any questions! If you still need assistance or have questions that aren’t answered there, email songwriter@acornlive.org.
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Lyrics must be submitted using a storage cloud such as Google Drive (preferred) or Dropbox. Videos can be submitted in any of the above formats or as a YouTube or Vimeo link. Lyrics that are copy/pasted into the Google form are not accepted.   *
Required
For any storage cloud application uploads such as Google Drive or Dropbox, you must grant permission/access to songwriter@acornlive.org *
Required
For YouTube links that are not public, you must grant permission/access to songwriter@acornlive.org  *
Required
NAME of Participant *
If the name of the person paying the fee is different than the participant, please put the payer's name in parenthesis after the name of the participant.
STAGE NAME if different from participant name. We accept solo artists or duos only.
Artist Bio. Your bio should be written in the third person and have a professional tone. Please include where you are from, how long you've been writing songs and any significant performances or awards. *
Links to share? If you have an artist website, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, or any other artist links you would like to share with us, please list them below:
Please send headshots to songwriter@acornlive.org. *
If you become a Finalist, we will be using this photo for publicity purposes. It must be plain with no text on the photo.
  • Please send a clear, high resolution image.
  • Label your image file with your name. 
  • Use the subject line: "YOUR NAME - Singer-Songwriter 2026 Headshot"
Required
EMAIL ADDRESS *
Best PHONE NUMBER we can reach you at *
MAILING ADDRESS *
Your entry fee must be paid at the time of submission. Link to payment page is below: *
TITLE of 1st Original Song *
Link to Video of 1st Song. If you are submitting as a Google Drive or DropBox link, make sure that you provide permission to songwriter@acornlive.org to view before submitting. *
Link to Lyrics to 1st Song. Please put the Artist Name and Title of the Song at the top of lyric sheet. 

We only accept shareable and downloadable files. Do NOT submit a link to your website or YouTube for your lyrics. Make sure that you provide permission to songwriter@acornlive.org to view before submitting. We will not accept lyrics that are copy/pasted into this Google form.
*
TITLE of 2nd Original Song *
Link to Video of 2nd Song. If you are submitting as a Google Drive or DropBox link, make sure that you provide permission to songwriter@acornlive.org to view before submitting.
Link to Lyrics to 2nd Song. Please put the Artist Name and Title of the Song at the top of lyric sheet. 

We only accept shareable and downloadable files. Do NOT submit a link to your website or YouTube for your lyrics. Make sure that you provide permission to songwriter@acornlive.org to view before submitting. We will not accept lyrics that are copy/pasted into this Google form.
TITLE of 3rd Original Song *
Link to Video of 3rd Song. If you are submitting as a Google Drive or DropBox link, make sure that you provide permission to songwriter@acornlive.org to view before submitting. *
Link to Lyrics to 3rd Song. Please put the Artist Name and Title of the Song at the top of lyric sheet. 

We only accept shareable and downloadable files. Do NOT submit a link to your website or YouTube for your lyrics. Make sure that you provide permission to songwriter@acornlive.org to view before submitting. We will not accept lyrics that are copy/pasted into this Google form.
 *
TECH NEEDS *
In the event you make it to the finals, we need to know what you need. Describe your tech needs.
ADDITIONAL ACORN EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE
 (Please check any that you will need if you make it to the finals)
How did you hear about our competition?               *
Please be specific such as Acorn Facebook page, friend's Facebook page, Acorn Instagram, Acorn Open Mic night, etc.  
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