D.I.Y.

Matt Epp & Faouzia Take Top Honors At International Songwriting Competition

image from songchops.comThe International Songwriting Competition has announced that Canadian musician Matt Epp and Morocco-born Manitoba-raised Faouzia have won the contest's grand prize for 2016 for their co-written song “The Sound Ft. Faouzia.”

image from www.celebrityaccess.com

The International Songwriting Competition (ISC) said that Matt Epp was inspired to write the chorus of the winning entry while on tour and missing his family and later completed the song after meeting Faouzia through a mentorship group. The song has already found traction on the radio, hitting #1 on the CBC Radio 2 chart, and it recently earned the SOCAN No.1 Song Award in Canada based on its radio success.

When Epp heard that they had won the Grand Prize, he said, "I've always felt that we songwriters receive songs, more than write them. I'm so grateful for this one to have chosen me and my very talented collaborator Faouzia, and especially to the ISC for this prestigious Grand Prize award!"

The Grand Prize winners take home $25,000 in cash and over $45,000 in additional prizes.

In addition to the Grand Prize winners, numerous other songwriters won first, second and third place in a variety of categories, ranging from folk to EDM, as well as special categories for unsigned songwriters. Judges for 2016 included both artists and industry execs, including Tom Waits, Lorde, Donovan, Bastille, Joe Bonamassa, India Arie, Sara Evans, Craig Kallman (Chairman/CEO, Atlantic Records); John Esposito (Chairman & CEO, Warner Music Nashville); Dan McCarroll (President, Warner Bros. Records); Daniel Glass (President, Glassnote Records); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); and numerous others.

The full list of winners for the 2016 ISC

AAA (ADULT ALBUM ALTERNATIVE)

1ST PLACE
Jason Dill, Frank Hammonds, Brock Berryhill, Stephen Campbell, Evan Coffman (The Upset Victory)
Cincinnati, OH, USA

2ND PLACE
Tom Iansek, Jo Syme (Big Scary)
Melbourne, VIC, Australia

3RD PLACE
Phebe Starr
Sydney, NSW, Australia
AC (ADULT CONTEMPORARY)

1ST PLACE
Lauren Riley, Melissa Fuller, Joel Heumann (Lauren Riley) Cave Creek, AZ, USA 2ND PLACE
Grace Kelly, April Bender (Grace Kelly)
New York, NY, USA

3RD PLACE
Rob Storm
Johannesburg, South Africa

AMERICANA

1ST PLACE
Grace Askew
Memphis, TN, USA

2ND PLACE
Tim Easton
Nashville, TN, USA

3RD PLACE
Josh Rennie-Hynes
Woodford, QLD, Australia

BLUES

1ST PLACE
Thessex Johns (Johnny Drummer)
Chicago, IL, USA

2ND PLACE
Jai Malano, Daniel Barrett (JaiDan)
Austin, TX, USA

3RD PLACE
Spencer Mackenzie, Richard Mackenzie (Spencer Mackenzie)
Ridgeway, ON, Canada

CHILDREN'S MUSIC

1ST PLACE
Lucy Kalantari
Brooklyn, NY, USA

2ND PLACE
Lalo Crane, Kyler England (Freckleland)
Los Angeles, CA, USA

3RD PLACE
Laszlo Kerekgyarto, Csilla Kovacs (Buborek Band)
Budapest, Hungary

CHRISTIAN

1ST PLACE
Ryan Payne, Jeff Edgel, Christian Morris, Melanie Morris (Attaboy)
Huntington, IN, USA

2ND PLACE
Jaylene Johnson
Winnipeg, MB, Canada

3RD PLACE
Troy Kokol, Tenille Nadkrynechny (Tenille)
Calgary, AB, Canada

COMEDY/NOVELTY

1ST PLACE
Kate Miller-Heidke, Keir Nuttall, Louis Schoorl (Kate Miller-Heidke Ft. The Beards)
Brisbane, QLD, Australia

2ND PLACE
Joey White
Upper Arlington, OH, USA

3RD PLACE
John Pearson, Dave Freeland (Johnny and the TipperZ)
Ossining, NY, USA

COUNTRY

1ST PLACE
Caitlin Notey, Matias Mora, Jeannie Lurie, Keith Armstrong
Los Angeles, CA, USA

2ND PLACE
Caitlin Rushing
Orlando, FL, USA

3RD PLACE
Katrina Burgoyne, Goran Kralj, Joe Doyle (Katrina Burgoyne)
Gunnedah, NSW, Australia / Nashville, TN, USA

EDM (ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC)

1ST PLACE
Sophie Simmons
Los Angeles, CA, USA

2ND PLACE
Adam Katz, Tim Maxx (Tim Maxx Ft. Adam Katz)
Sydney, NSW, Australia / Los Angeles, CA, USA

3RD PLACE
Zimri, John Hiler, KVSH (Zimri)
Nashville, TN, USA / Chicago, IL, USA / Belo Horizonte, Brazil

FOLK/SINGER-SONGWRITER

1ST PLACE
Prateek Kuhad
New Delhi, India

2ND PLACE
Nate Ihara
Chantilly, VA, USA

3RD PLACE
Joe Brooks
Southampton, England

INSTRUMENTAL

1ST PLACE
Gustavo Assis-Brasil
Santa Maria, Brazil / Arlington, MA, USA

2ND PLACE
Dexter Britain
Brighton, England

3RD PLACE
Yves Barbieux (Urban Trad)
Marche en Famenne, Belgium

JAZZ

1ST PLACE
Shunzo Ohno
Gifu, Japan

2ND PLACE
Paolo Fresu (Omar Sosa & Paolo Fresu)
Berchidda, Italy

3RD PLACE
Xavier Faro (Meajam)
Cahors, France

LATIN

1ST PLACE
Maca Torres
La Serena, Chile

2ND PLACE
Oscar Jimenez (Oscar Jimenez Ft. La Phonoclorica)
Barranquilla, Colombia / Melbourne, VIC, Australia

3RD PLACE
Cindy Arguello, Javier Arguello (Chaostronaut)
Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico

LYRICS ONLY

1ST PLACE
Gordon Anthony Patrick Barry
Wexford, Ireland

2ND PLACE
Michael Harmel (Government Town)
Regina, SK, Canada

3RD PLACE
Salar Nasir Khan (Salar Khan)
Peshawar, Pakistan

MUSIC VIDEO

1ST PLACE

Claire Pamella Kamahoro (Kleyah)
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

2ND PLACE
Tan Peng Sing, Johnathan Lim, Jonathan Ong, Jeryl Yeo, Siow Wen Sing (Take Two)
Singapore, Republic of Singapore

3RD PLACE
Piper Madison
Louisville, KY, USA

PERFORMANCE

1ST PLACE
Glenn Cardier
Sydney, NSW, Australia

2ND PLACE
Taavi Paomets, Sander Molder (Avoid Dave)
Tallinn, Estonia

3RD PLACE
Tatiana Mayfield, Ben Bohorquez (Tatiana LadyMay Mayfield)
Fort Worth, TX, USA

POP/TOP 40

1ST PLACE
Fly By Midnight
Staten Island, NY, USA

2ND PLACE
Carla Cappa (CAPPA), Kenny Fleetwood, Dylan Bauld
Philadelphia, PA, USA

3RD PLACE
Ravi Kumar, Anjulie Persaud, David Bache (Anjulie)
Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England

R&B/HIP-HOP

1ST PLACE
Ravi Kumar, Whitney Phillips, Zac Poor, David Bache (Zac Poor)
Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England

2ND PLACE
Kyle Bent
Randolph, MA, USA

3RD PLACE
Paul Evans
Los Angeles, CA, USA

ROCK

1ST PLACE
David Leaupepe (Gang Of Youths)
Sydney, NSW, Australia

2ND PLACE
Keaton Simons, John Nathaniel (Keaton Simons)
Laval, QC, Canada

3RD PLACE
Sam Roberts (Sam Roberts Band)
Montreal, QC, Canada

TEEN

1ST PLACE
Kayla Korpics
Gibsonton, FL, USA

2ND PLACE
Avonlea
Santa Rosa, CA, USA

3RD PLACE
Olivia Swinton
Scarsdale, NY, USA

UNPUBLISHED

1ST PLACE
Matt Gresham
Perth, WA, Australia

2ND PLACE
Thom Chacon
Durango, CO, USA

3RD PLACE
Holly Harding, Jungle Boi, Mallie
London, England

UNSIGNED ONLY

1ST PLACE
Mike Chetcuti (Lava Dolls)
Hamilton, ON, Canada

2ND PLACE
Raquel Cole, Jack Williams, Jon Coleman (Raquel Cole)
Vernon, BC, Canada

3RD PLACE
Council
Baldwinsville, NY, USA

WORLD

1ST PLACE
Daby Toure
Paris, France

2ND PLACE
Dino Miranda
Maputo, Tchumene, Mozambique

3RD PLACE
Shahed Mohseni Zonoozi, Salar Hamzei
Tehran, Iran

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