Submissions will be accepted until March 1st, 2025 (EST/EDT)
Judge rating has begun!
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Hey critters, we’re back and better than ever! Compared to last year, some of our rules have changed. Please be sure to read the updated rules carefully!

WHAT IS THE EXPRESS YOURSELF CONTEST? WHAT IS THE PROCESS?
The contest is to express yourself through a minute-and-twenty-second long (or less) musical piece. The first round is a Public Submission Round, meaning anyone can submit a song and so long as it abides to the rules, be considered.

The contest then undergoes a private voting round, where the songs from the Public Submission Round are placed on a rating criteria and at least twelve are selected to move on by our panel of judges (Myself, Yangwatanabe & Felix the Coyote). The remaining (12), those that scored the highest on our rating criteria, will be moved directly into the Semifinal Rounds. The Semifinal Rounds will be publicly voted on by you, the community.

After the Semifinal Rounds, a Final Round consisting of 5 submissions will occur to pick this year's winning 3. This is also a public voting round. As an outcome to this round, the top 3 submissions will be chosen and prizes given (see prizes below)!


THE RULES
Of course, this contest has rules. Failure to follow any of these rules could lead to your song being removed from the contest, or, in extreme cases, yourself to be disqualified.

Rule 1) Submit all songs for this contest to this journal, and in DIRECT response to the comment we posted below.

Rule 2) Your song must be one-minute-twenty-seconds or less (1:20) and every second past this time will eliminate your song from the contest. Note: For total time we do not look at total song length, but when the last audible portion of the song ends- we realize there can be uploading errors.

Rule 3) Your song must have been submitted to FA in the year of 2025 and made for the contest. Note: Please mention somewhere on your submission that your song was made for the contest.

Rule 4) All genres are welcome so long as the song is PG.

Rule 5) You may submit one song for the contest. Submit it in DIRECT response to the comment we posted below.

Rule 6) Your submission must be submitted to FA. FA must be the only place where this submission is found.

Rule 7) You cannot modify your submission after it is submitted to the contest. Note: In the case of an extenuating circumstance, send us a note for permission to modify your submission.

Rule 8) The top 3 musicians from the two most recent Express Yourself (2023/2024) cannot participate.

Rule 9) No remixes or covers, and do not mention your username in the audio file.

Rule 10) Users submitting to the contest must have a user-page older than a month to be considered.

THE RATING CRITERIA
Our panel of judges have determined this to be how we will rate your submission and select them for the Semi-Finals.

Technicality: /50
Mix / Master: /10
Composition: /25
Time Management: /15

Musicality: /50
Originality: /20
Intention: /25
Personally enjoyed: /5

*You no longer need to write how the song expresses you in the submission info box! We're happy to let your music speak for you this year.


PRIZES
Here's what's already set in stone for our contestants.

+ 1st Place: $300 of cold hard cash, courtesy of Fur Affinity. A song of yours will be promoted as our featured submission until the following year's contest concludes! A prepaid commission of your character by orcaowl. Free access to True North Audio's first major 2025 VST/Instrument catalogue to take your music to the next level, and a $20 coupon to assist in purchasing future TNA library plugins. A 6 month long promotion package using FA’s advertising system. A promotional interview for the pilot episode of ‘Yip!’, a new feature coming to Furry Musicians after the contest aimed at educating furry musicians how to find success with their music in all corners of the furry fandom and beyond!

+ 2nd Place: $200 of cold hard cash, courtesy of Fur Affinity. Free access to True North Audio's first major 2025 VST/Instrument catalogue to take your music to the next level, and a $20 coupon to assist in purchasing future TNA library plugins. A prepaid commission of your character from an artist in our community.

+ 3rd Place: $100 of cold hard cash, courtesy of Fur Affinity. Free access to True North Audio's first major 2025 VST/Instrument catalogue to take your music to the next level, and a $20 coupon to assist in purchasing future TNA library plugins. A prepaid commission of your character from an artist in our community.


UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES
Not a musician? We would love to work out a way to promote you.

ARTISTS: As always, we are looking for new artists to contribute to the prize pool! If you are interested in having your very own placement prize promoted like this, reply to the designated comment below. Yes, you will be paid.

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We are looking for a new spotlight host to work with Furry Musicians over our 'regular season' of biweekly spotlight uploads. If you have a passion for music in the furry fandom, a willingness to volunteer your time for one spotlight a month, and a decent recording setup, look no further then this application journal to become an official Furry Musicians Spotlight Host!