The FMC - Film Music Contest 2023 is now underway, with composers of film, television and video game music invited to register in a total of six categories in order to submit their original compositions. Now in its fifth year, the competition has been expanded to include six different categories in an effort to seek out and showcase the work of an even wider variety of music makers.
Instrumental Music
Open to composers, musicians, soloists, bands and instrumentalists of all ages and nationalities, the Instrumental Music has now been extended to include relaxation, meditation and ambient music genres. Solo pieces or compositions with multiple instruments are accepted, and can be captured as studio recordings (both demos and full productions) or as live recordings of concerts or performances.
Submissions can be up to six minutes long, and must be delivered as an MP3 file. It is important to note that orchestral music will not be accepted, and must instead be entered into the FMC’s dedicated Symphonic Orchestral category.
Symphonic Orchestral
The high volume of orchestral compositions being submitted in previous years has led the FMC to include an additional, dedicated category for this year’s competition, with the hope that it will draw more attention to the entrants and inspire keen composers and conductors. It is open to composers, chamber groups, ensembles and orchestras of all ages and nationalities, and includes material creating used virtual sounds and sample libraries as well as recorded live performances.
Length of compositions is again limited to six minutes and must be delivered as an MP3, and cinematic material that has been scored for picture should instead be submitted to the Music for Film, TV & Ads category.
Music for Film, TV & Ads
The hugely popular FMC category returns once again, allowing composers, musicians, producers, sound designers, film and video makers to enter music that has been written for — or featured in — a film, TV series, or advert. All musical genres are accepted, with entrants free to submit material that has been created with live, electronic or sampled instruments, by solo performers, bands, small or large orchestras or choirs.
The same time limit and file delivery rules apply, and submissions of demos, studio and recordings will be accepted. Video game composers should be aware of another new themed addition to this year’s contest: the Action Game Soundtrack category.
Animation, Films & Videos
This category welcomes submissions from a wide range of entrants including film and video makers, animators, background or character designers, film composers, sound designers and more. Any form of animations are accepted, such as 2D and 3D, clay, sand, anime, computer graphics, cartoons, puppetry, flip book and many more.
Films and videos of any genre and type are also accepted, such as experimental, documentary, music videos, student film/video, children’s films, sci-fi and genre hybrids. As the focus of the competition is the music, they must all be accompanied by an original score.
Films and videos can be submitted as public or private YouTube or Vimeo links, and must be a maximum length of 10 minutes. For longer features, entrants must select the part that best expresses their visuals and music, or prepare an edited version.
Scoring Retro SCI-FI Animation
For this category, the FMC have provided a visual sequence with no score, and are inviting composers to create an original experimental piece utilising hardware or virtual synthesizer instruments and sample libraries to accompany it.
They are also welcoming sound design in addition to a musical composition, should entrants wish to use it to enrich the animation, but it is not a requirement.
The video file can be downloaded from the category’s page on the FMC website.
Action Game Soundtrack
Finally, the sucessfull Video Game Scoring category from previous years has returned, and this year comes with a set theme.
The FMC have chosen Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers as the scoring candidate. Developed by Games Farm and published by Maximum Games and bitComposer Games, it is a fast-paced aerial action game packed with mid-air battles across a variety of different settings that has been released on Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation.
A short sequence from the game has been prepared and is available on the FMC website, with entrants free to compose accompanying music in any way they see fit!
Prizes
This year’s FMC winners will share more than €60,000 in prizes, with the grand prize of a four-day VIP Artist stay in Budapest, Hungary packed with amazing experiences and special activities.
There is also a selection of high-quality hardware and software from the likes of Moog Music, Meze Audio, PSPaudioware, D16 Group Audio Software and more up for grabs. Additionally, winners will receive original handmade trophies and certificates as reminders of their success along with media coverage and press interviews.
You can check out the full prize list here.
Once again, the winners of the FMC will be decided by a prestigious international jury made up of professional composers, musicians, film directors and producers from the EU, USA, Asia and Australia.
Deadline
More information about this year’s contest can be found on the FMC website.
