The John Lennon Award is an annual competition open to songwriters in contemporary genres including alternative, pop, rock, indie, electronica, R&B, and experimental. Awards totaling are presented annually for the best original songs submitted to the competition. Applicants must be living in the U.S. and its territories. John Lennon Award entrants who are also applying for the Dolly Parton Songwriters Award must submit different songs for each contest. Dual applicants may not submit the same original work to both competitions. Songs can be in any language. An English translation must be included in the application. Work submitted must never have been commercially recorded, published or distributed. Please contact the BMI Foundation, Inc. for more information about the award.