Submissions will be accepted until 11:59PM on March 8th, 2026 (EST/EDT). Anything from Electro Swing to Jungle to Lo-fi. If the dominant element in your submission is of the electronic genre, it'll count!

Big note: This year, we will not be utilizing the banner journal on Fur Affinity to promote the fact that submissions are open for the contest. The hope is that the community will pitch in to help our growth, invigorating our group as it continues to expand into a large and helpful resource made to support furry music! It would be much appreciated if you spread the word of the contest to others you think would enjoy competing, or share the post I will be putting out on our official Bluesky- found here: FURRY MUSICIANS ON BLUESKY

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Hey all, Puppy here! We're back with the Express Yourself Contest, and we're doing something very different (but hopefully better) this time... so make sure you read below!


WHAT IS THE EXPRESS YOURSELF CONTEST? WHAT IS THE PROCESS?
The contest is to express yourself through a minute-and-thirty-second long (or less) musical piece.

The Express Yourself Contest will be broken into three episodes. The first episode will be accepting electronic-forward music, the second episode, instrumental-forward, and the third is TBD.

After the submission window closes, all submissions will be reviewed by a panel of judges over the course of one or two weeks, and the winners will be selected!

Ultimately, there will be nine opportunities to podium over the three episodes of 2026, and one individual can compete in multiple episodes!

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

Rule 1) Submit your song for this contest to this journal, and make sure it is electronic-forward

Rule 2) Your song must be one-minute-thirty-seconds or less (1:30) and every second past this will eliminate your song from the contest. Note: For total time we do not look at song length, but when the last audible portion of the song ends

Rule 3) Your song must have been submitted to FA in the year of 2026 and made for the contest. Note: Please mention somewhere on your submission that your song was made for the contest.

Rule 4) Submitted songs must be PG.

Rule 5) You may submit one song to the contest.

Rule 6) Your submission must be submitted to FA, but you can promote your track on other social medias.

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 (2024/2025) CAN participate.

Rule 9) No remixes or covers.

Rule 10) Users submitting to the contest must have a userpage older than a month OR send us a note connecting your Bluesky account to your new FA account in the event that you have made your FA account to participate after hearing about EYC through Bluesky.


THE RATING CRITERIA

Technicality
Mix / Master: Are the different elements of the submission laid with precision and intention, and are layers tactfully distinct to pattern the overall soundscape? Sound selection, cohesion, intentional manipulation like audio peaking & audio gating are all factored in. Are the individual elements using the full breadth of the soundscape they reside in? Does the sound pan, dynamically move, or is it all flat?

Composition: Does the song progress through structural or phasic changes like low energy to high energy, defined sections, or instruments arriving then leaving? How well done are the Harmony: Chord and texture quality & Melody: motifs and melodic motion?

Time Management: Does the song fully utilize its runtime? Does the song feel complete, and is it paced appropriately?

Musicality
Originality: Does the song successfully establish an original identity within the thematic constraints of it's chosen genre?

Intention: Does the song successfully express a central motif and/or an intentional statement to the listener?


PRIZES
The prize pool is a cash pool that will scale based on how many entries are submitted. See below:
# of Entries - 1st - 2nd - 3rd

10 (Or Less) $50 $0 $0

20 $60 $0 $0

30 $70 $20 $0

40 $80 $30 $0

50 $90 $40 $20

60 $100 $50 $20

70 $115 $60 $25

80 $130 $70 $30

90 $145 $85 $35

100+ $160 $100 $40

Additional prizes:

1st place: Promotion on a Rednef / Community News banner journal [Like This], which sees thousands of daily viewers - Promotion on Furry Musicians and their Bluesky profile - True North Audio's first major 2026 VST/Instrument catalogue and a $20 coupon to assist in purchasing future TNA library plugins - An interview on Yip!, a new feature coming to Furry Musicians aimed at educating furry musicians about how to find success with their music in all corners of the furry fandom and beyond!

2nd Place: Promotion on a Rednef / Community News banner journal [Like This], which sees thousands of daily viewers - Promotion on Furry Musicians and their Bluesky profile - A True North Audio item of your choosing from their catalog.

3rd place: Promotion on a Rednef / Community News banner journal [Like This], which sees thousands of daily viewers - Promotion on Furry Musicians and their Bluesky profile - A True North Audio item of your choosing from their catalog.