Glasto is on the bucket list of every band going and each year but while plenty of bands get there through their booking agents, reputations, streaming numbers or knowing a guy who runs one of the smaller bars, there is a way for emerging bands to put themselves into the mix.
How do you play Glastonbury?
The Emerging Talent Competition (ETC) which runs every year is a competition open to new UK and Ireland-based acts of any musical genre the chance to compete for a slot on one of the main stages at this year’s Festival.
The winner will also be awarded a £5,000 Talent Development prize from PRS Foundation if they win the competition.
Two runners-up will also each be awarded a £2,500 PRS Foundation Talent Development prize.
In 2019, Nialler9 picked the eventual winner of the Emerging Talent Competition in Marie White, who played the festival and later, signed a deal with Universal Music Publishing Group so the ETC is not some two-bit Punch and Judy show down on the seafront at Margate.
How do you enter the Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition?
Acts from any musical genre can enter the 2024 competition FOR ONE WEEK ONLY using the form at glastonburyfestivals.co.uk, live from 9am Monday 29th January until 5pm Monday 5th February 2024.
The Festival is committed to diversity and inclusivity and we welcome entries from disabled artists, who we will support to ensure they are not disadvantaged by the process.
Once the entries are in, a panel of 30 of the UK’s (and Ireland’s) best music writers will help compile a longlist of 90 acts. The longlist will then be narrowed down to a shortlist of eight artists by judges including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis, before the live finals in Pilton decide the winning act.
Who has won the Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition before?
The winner of the 2023 competition was the Guinea-born, Cardiff-based musician N’famady Kouyaté, who says of his experience:
“Winning Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent Competition was amazing and has opened loads of doors for me. It gave me and the band a chance to perform on an amazing stage at an incredible festival. Winning also meant that I could take the next steps to further my career. If you think you’re ready to take the next steps too, I highly suggest you enter this year’s contest!”
Other recent Emerging Talent Competition finalists include Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis McLaughlin in 2022, 2020 lockdown winner R.A.E; 2019 winner Marie White, who later signed with Decca Records and Universal Publishing; rapper Flohio who won the prestigious Music Moves Europe Talent Award in 2020; R&B singer Izzy Bizu (a 2016 BRITs Critics’ Choice nominee and winner of the 2016 BBC Music Introducing Award); and singer-songwriter Declan McKenna, who won ETC 2015 and subsequently signed with Columbia and has released two successful albums. The 2017 ETC winner was singer Josh Barry, who has since toured with Rag’n’Bone Man and Gorgon City. Meanwhile, 2016 winners She Drew The Gun have received considerable acclaim for their politically-inspired psych-pop.
