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The Broadjam 6-Pack Songwriting Competition consists of six individual songwriting challenges, each with its own unique theme. You're welcome to make as many submissions to as many challenges as you'd like and you can track the progress of the competition by following the 6-Pack Leaderboard (updated hourly) and the progress of your own submissions as well.
Write a love song that captures hearts and stays in the listener's head. Whether it's a ballad, bop, or breakup tune, the melody should be memorable, the hook undeniable, and the structure simple - no more than 3 or 4 chords. It's about universal connection, so think sincerity, not sentimentality. The love can be romantic, familial, friendly, or self-directed. If it makes someone feel seen, it's working.
Tell us a story. This challenge is all about lyrical narrative - with characters, setting, and a clear journey. The story can be fictional, autobiographical, historical, or surreal, but it must have a beginning, middle, and end. The best entries will paint pictures with words and keep the listener hooked like a great novel or film. You're not just writing a song - you're inviting someone into a world.
Your mission: move the listener from one emotion to another using only instruments - no vocals, no lyrics, no words. Can you turn joy into despair? Tension into serenity? Curiosity into chaos? This is a composer's challenge. Use arrangement, instrumentation, dynamics, tempo, and harmony to create an emotional arc. Declare your starting and ending moods in your submission.
This is where musical daring meets technical skill. Your song must feature a key change, a time signature change, or both. Whether it's a seamless modulation or a dramatic shift, the transition must serve the song - not just be a stunt. Any genre is welcome. The challenge lies in making the complexity feel natural, not forced. Show us how structure and surprise can work in harmony.
Write a song that stares mortality in the face - and doesn't blink. This category is for songs that wrestle with death, aging, grief, fear, the passage of time, or the fleeting nature of existence. The tone can be poetic, philosophical, emotional, even humorous - but the core of it must be open and honest. We want your rawest reflections, the most vulnerable writing you have.
This is your platform. Use it. Rage against injustice. Protest oppression. Highlight inequality. From global issues to local battles, personal truths to political statements - your message must be clear, powerful, and artistically delivered. This song should make listeners think, feel, and act. Genre doesn't matter - truth does. Whether you whisper or scream, the point is to use your craft to speak truth to power.
Find out who's won past 6-Pack Competitions
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