![](https://res.cloudinary.com/jerrick/image/upload/c_fill,f_jpg,g_auto,h_670,q_auto,w_670/5e284a93084ba2001cc20f4a.jpg)
Behind the Beat
Share the untold story behind a particular song that changed your life.
Prizes
- Grand prize:
- $5,000 USD
- Second place:
- $2,500 USD
- Third place:
- $1,000 USD
We’ll also share what you create on our social media profiles, so be sure to follow our Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to catch our winners.
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Jan 22, 2020
Submissions closed
Feb 29, 2020 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Feb 28, 2020
Prizes
- Grand prize:
- $5,000 USD
- Second place:
- $2,500 USD
- Third place:
- $1,000 USD
We’ll also share what you create on our social media profiles, so be sure to follow our Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to catch our winners.
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Jan 22, 2020
Submissions closed
Feb 29, 2020 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Feb 28, 2020
About this challenge
We all have that one song that we always fall back to. Whether it’s a song that reminds us of a special someone, takes us back to our favorite place, or simply brings a smile to our face—there’s something about it that makes it our song. We want to know what that something is for you!
We’re asking Vocal+ creators to share the untold story behind a particular song that changed their lives. This challenge is all about uncovering the unique meaning of your favorite tunes—does this song remind you of your father-daughter wedding dance? Did you meet your fiancé at a concert when this song was playing? Did you reconnect with an old friend through your love for this song? Tell us what makes this song a memorable one, and be sure to include the song in your story—we want to give it a listen too!
Judges
Jessica Angeles is the Creator Relations Manager at Anchor, an all-in-one podcasting platform under Spotify where creators can record, edit, distribute and monetize their podcast for free. She ensures that top creators have the best experience on Anchor while also helping them grow their podcast. Before that, she led music partnerships at Tumblr, working with musicians to create digital and IRL moments to connect with their fans in a unique and authentic way.
Laura Frias works as an A&R for AWAL, Kobalt’s alternative to the traditional music label. AWAL’s roster ranges from new, breaking artists to global successes, including Kim Petras, Snoh Aalegra, FINNEAS, Steve Lacy, girl in red, Little Simz, Tom Misch, Yeek, and more. Since moving to Los Angeles from Lima, Perú in 2012, Laura has been passionate about paving a space for cultural diversity in music, and strives to empower artists to find their voice in the industry.
Lea Orlando is the Head of Music and Culture at Tumblr. She currently heads the team that brings all of your favorite artists’ Tumblrs to life—from partnering with artists including the Jonas Brothers, Katy Perry, 5SOS & more, she’s constantly bringing fans closer to their idols, both online and offline. Music connects people and she knows how to make these connections extra special.
How it’s judged
We’re looking for stories that take us to that memory, place, person, or whatever it might be that your song represents to you. Share with our judges all the details and memories that make this song so special. Our judges will look for quality, but also creativity and your ability to accurately respond to our prompt. For more on their judging criteria, click here. Read the Official Rules here.
How to enter
In order for you to enter this challenge, you must be a Vocal+ member. Not a member? Join now to unlock more challenges and push your creativity to new limits.
For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 5,000 words, and adhere to our Community Guidelines. You must embed the song you’re writing about, which you can learn how to do here. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until February 28th will be entered for consideration.
To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these 32 countries will not be eligible to win.
Open challenges
Challenges you can enter now for a chance to win.
Challenge resources
Travel Snaps Challenge Winners
Travel changes us — if we let its lessons in. It’s possible to wander the world, even to take pictures, with our eyes as good as closed, never opening to the new self that a new place might make of us. So many of the entries to our Travel Snaps challenge were by creators who really wanted to look at the world, and themselves, anew. They were all inspiring to read — and to see, because photography was an important part of this competition. To us, the ‘quality’ of the photographs wasn’t the point; it was that these images were yours. It was a reminder of how much more that can mean — certainly when it comes to personal essays — than widely available or AI images. We really loved seeing these snaps.
By Vocal Curation Team12 days ago in Resources
Poemosaurus Rex Challenge Winners
Hard to conceive, now, how extraordinary it would have been to find the bones of those terrible lizards in the earth — in a time before humans had conceived of anything other than a Great Chain of Being, a static creation. Yet long after Darwin they still have a hold over us, these creatures which are the ancestors of sparrows and seagulls. All hail the dinosaur! They are at once real and mythic, objects of science and objects of wonder, exhibitions in museums and children’s toys. No wonder Vocal Creators responded with such a variety of work to our Poemosaurus prompt.
By Vocal Curation Team17 days ago in Resources
Just a Minute Challenge Winners
Thanks again to Vocal Creator, Breezy, for suggesting the Just a Minute Challenge — one which you all interpreted in a wonderful variety of ways. Sometimes a minute can feel like an eternity, sometimes it can pass in the blink of an eye… to describe the passing of sixty seconds is no simple matter.
By Vocal Curation Teamabout a month ago in Resources