Listen to Competition Submissions!

Lyrics4Life is putting the music up front. We have opened the submissions catalogue so supporters, curators and the songwriters themselves can hear how Season 1 is shaping up — long before anyone steps on a stage in February.

Getting more ears on it

Before the spotlight hits the main stage in Ottawa, every entry passes through the ears of our Song Selection Committee. That is a small room. The catalogue is how we widen it — when someone enters, they are supporting the CHEO Foundation, and the least we can do is send people to their song.

In the catalogue you can:

• See who has entered across all three categories
• Play any track its artist has made public, and keep it playing while you browse
• Follow the artists who have shared their socials
• Like a song to cheer it on — artists hear about it

Artists: playback is a switch, and it starts off

Being accepted puts your song in the catalogue either way — title, artwork, category, and a link through to your artist page. Whether anyone can play it there is a separate choice, and it is off until you make it. In your profile, turn on “Anyone can play my accepted tracks on my public pages” and your song joins the ones people can listen to.

Entries close November 8

We are not looking for polished, finished products. Plenty of you are out there doing remarkable work with a phone and a quiet room, and something raw with human flaws is worth every bit as much as a studio session — as long as you are proud of it. If you are, we would love to hear it.

See how to enter, step by step →

Recording something raw, with human flaws, is just as valuable as a studio project.

What we tell every songwriter who asks

Key dates