In 2014, we started the Tiny Desk Contest with the humble goal of discovering new music. Since then, your entries have blown us away. Your music has made us laugh, made us cry and filled us with insurmountable joy. It's been incredible to watch artists in this community grow.
So, the moment you've all been waiting for has finally arrived: The Tiny Desk Contest is back for 2019! And for the first time ever, our Contest will be open to artists 18 years and older.
Get to work on your video, because you can enter starting today.
Here's how to enter:
- Film a video of you or your band performing an original song at a desk. Any desk will do.
- Upload your video to YouTube.
- Submit your video via the entry form on our website.
That's it! We'll be accepting entries now through April 14 at 11:59 p.m. EST. If you've got questions, feel free read the official rules or check out our FAQs.
The Contest winner will come to NPR headquarters to play their very own Tiny Desk concert, and then come on tour with NPR Music with support from our sponsor, Blue Microphones.
I'm so excited about our judging panel this year. I'll be joined by some friends from public radio: Rodney Carmichael of NPR Music, Raul Campos of KCRW and Abbie Gobeli of KEXP — dedicated seekers of new music from all genres and styles — plus, some of our favorite Tiny Desk alums: Jason Isbell, Ledisi and Lucy Dacus.
Winning the Contest can really change an artist's life. Just ask Naia Izumi. After he won last year, Izumi went from busking on the street to opening on the national tour for The Lone Bellow and signing a contract with Sony Masterworks. Other winners have gone on to play world tours and festivals like Coachella and South By Southwest (See you there, Gaelynn Lea.) They've released amazing albums. (We can't wait to hear the new record from Tank and The Bangas.) One winner has even gone on to win two Grammys. (Congrats, Fantastic Negrito!)
Our winners aren't the only artists who entered the Contest who I've invited to play behind my Tiny Desk. Just last week, the Philadelphia band &More, who caught our eye with its Contest entry last year, came and performed a Tiny Desk concert. We love to feature entries in other ways, too. When we go on tour with the winner, we ask local artists who entered the Contest to join the bill and we write about entries we love on this blog. We're proud of the community you've built with us and we can't wait to see what's in store this year.
Got a song you want the world to hear? We want to hear it, too.
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