Vanda & Young Global Song Comp Announces 2025 Winners
The 2025 winners of the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition have been revealed.
The prestigious competition has returned this year to celebrate some of the world’s best songwriting talent, with over 3,500 entries from 52 countries.
A total of $85,000 has been awarded across 15 prizes, with entry fees supporting Noro Music Therapy, an organisation dedicated to transforming lives through music.
Announced today, the big winner is Shannon Busch (AU) – aka WILSN – for her song “Give You Love”, performed by Jessica Mauboy (AU) and Jason Derulo (US). Busch earns $50,000 for her win, with thanks to APRA AMCOS, Alberts and Sony Music Publishing.
“Hearing Jess sing the words I wrote brought me to tears,” Busch says. “It was a real ‘if my 10-year-old self could see me now’ moment. It’s surreal that my biggest musical success so far has come from a song about struggling to succeed in music.”
The second prize of $10,000, supported by Banki Haddock Fiora, has gone to Louis Schoorl (AU/UK) for “12 Minute Walk”, performed by Bow Anderson (UK). Schoorl co-wrote the song with Nick Bradley (UK) and Anderson, with Bradley also on co-production duties.
Cam Nacson (AU) has won the third prize of $5,000 for “Forever Thing”, a deeply personal song written, produced, and performed by Nacson himself.
Fourth prize, the Unpublished Australasian Songwriter Award ($5,000), proudly presented by AMPAL, has been awarded to Charley for “Timebomb”, co-written with Anton Engdahl (SE) and Kristen Carpenter (SE), and produced by Engdahl. As well as her main cash prize, Charley also takes home a Gibson Guitars Ebony Les Paul Special Tribute (valued at $2,999) with thanks to Australis.
On winning the AMPAL prize for the second year running, Charley said, “Winning this award again feels surreal. ‘Timebomb’ captured the heartache of long-distance love, and knowing it resonates with so many means the world to me. This recognition makes pursuing music a little easier – it’s not easy, especially early on. Right now, I’m in London writing my debut album, and I can’t wait to share it with you.”
This year’s competition also included the American Songwriter Spotlight Award ($1,500), which was won by Emma Hughes (UK) for ‘Without You”. Hughes also earns a feature on AmericanSongwriter.com, as well as entry into the American Songwriter Song Contest for her song.
Ten emerging songwriters were also recognised with an Emerging Songwriter Prize ($1,000 each), celebrating promising talent across a diverse range of genres:
- Kita Alexander – “Date Night”
- Lotte Gallagher – “Adam”
- Karina Savage – “Landslide”
- Lucy Sugerman – “he loves me, he loves me not”
- OKENYO, Zindzi & The Zillionaires – “PIXEL”
- Chris Lanzon – “Lilo” (with Ber)
- tiffi – “chemtrails”
- Chelsea Berman – “Where Does That Leave Me”
- Daniella Marchio – “Sweet”
- Nathan May – “It’s Gotta Start Somewhere”
“The incredible talent showcased in this year’s Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition has done more than impress – it has directly funded vital music therapy services for thousands in need,” Belinda Leonard, CEO of Noro Music Therapy, shares.
“Noro’s programs serve 2,500 weekly clients of all ages – from young children to centenarians – improving clinical outcomes and community engagement. A huge thanks to all the songwriters, sponsors and supporters for making these vital services accessible.”
Since its inception, the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition has raised over $2million in support of Noro Music Therapy.
This year’s sponsors include Vinyl Group, Vampr, The Brag Media, APRA AMCOS, Alberts, Sony Music Publishing, Banki Haddock Fiora, Aon Insurance, AMPAL, and Australis Music Group (Gibson Guitars),