2026 HSF Songwriting Competition

​Rules and Submission Instructions
ENTRY DEADLINE is 11:59PM HST on Friday, September 4, 2026
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Registered HSF 2026 conference attendees may submit one (1) song each to the 2026 Hawai'i Songwriting Festival songwriting competition. Please read the rules and follow the instructions below.

This competition is held in conjunction with the Hawai'i Songwriting Festival and is entirely optional. 

Quality recordings are appreciated, but the entries are judged on the songwriting, not the recording, performance, or presentation of the song. Rough demos are acceptable. 

Six to ten finalists will be chosen and announced at the opening ceremony on the first day of the conference (September 10, 2026), and must be present at the conference on September 10  in order to be considered a finalist.  They will each perform their song that evening for all the attendees, and a panel of judges (selected conference mentors) will choose 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners.  

In addition to receiving various prizes from our sponsors, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will perform their winning song in the concert on Saturday night (September 12).
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Contest Rules:
**If you do not follow these rules, your entry will not be considered!
  1. To submit your song, you must first be registered to attend the 2026 Hawai'i Songwriting Festival.  Each attendee can submit ONE song entry. 
  2. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners from 2025 cannot enter again in 2026, but all other previous finalists and winners can enter this year.
  3. **NEW THIS YEAR:  ALL ENTRIES MUST BE SUBMITTED VIA DISCO! ​
  4. For the purposes of the competition, a song must have both lyrics and music.
  5. All songs must be original, independent songs that have been written or co-written by the entrant(s). For competition purposes, "independent" means not published by a major music publishing organization.
  6. Only amateur songwriters (including co-writers) are allowed to submit entries to the competition. For competition purposes, "amateur" is defined as anyone who has never had any song they wrote appear on any of the Billboard charts.
  7. Submissions may not be songs that were co-written by someone who is an HSF mentor that year.  It's okay to submit a recording that was produced by an HSF mentor as long as they did not also co-write. 
  8. Submissions MUST NOT include any AI-generated content.  This includes any instrumentation, backing track, arrangement, or other elements of the production, as well as the actual songwriting. ​
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SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

**New this year: ALL entries MUST be submitted via DISCO using the link below. 

There are detailed submission instructions in the DISCO upload form linked below.  Please read the submission form carefully for specific instructions on how to label your song file and what to upload.  If you don't do it right, your entry might not be considered! 

If you aren't familiar with DISCO, click here to view our video tutorial to help you! 

CLICK HERE to upload via DISCO. You must submit through DISCO by the deadline in order to enter the competition.
(c) 2026 Hawai'i Songwriting Festival