East Lansing to Offer $1,000 for a Song That Captures the City

When someone says East Lansing, what comes to mind? Maybe it’s the art festival, a bustling downtown, or a nostalgic memory from your college years.

Whatever it may be, bands will have an opportunity to participate in a contest where they write original songs about East Lansing, after the East Lansing Arts Commission voted to create the contest. The winner will receive $1,000 and have their song professionally produced at Ryan Records. 

“The writers of the song would retain some of their basic rights, but the [Michigan State] University and the city would have a royalty to be able to use it however they like,” a representative from Ryan Records said at the Jan. 15 Arts Commission meeting.

For the contest, which is planned to take place late in the summer, artists will have a window of time to submit their songs to a panel of judges who will select five to eight finalists. Artists will be judged on four key areas: creativity, quality, relevance to East Lansing, and performance potential. 

Finalists will perform their songs at a live event downtown, and a winner will be chosen by a live audience vote at the event.

A tentative date of Aug. 13 is set for the contest, but some commissioners said they would like it to take place later in August, so musicians attending Michigan State University will be in East Lansing for the school year. 

Executing this event will take time, and Siarto noted that the commission still has several steps to complete before the competition can be put in place, including finalizing dates, confirming contest rules with the city attorney and settling on a voting platform.

Songs don’t have to fall under any specific genre. Contest rules specify the songs must be original and can’t include explicit language, be discriminatory or promote violence. 

Commissioners hope the song contest can help build community, and drew inspiration from classic songs about cities, like Elton John’s Philadelphia Freedom, Detroit Rock City by Kiss and New York, New York by Frank Sinatra, according to the agenda report. 

The contest will be paid for by the commission’s Public Art Fund, and although the commission approved up to $8,000, the estimated cost is around $7,100.  

Artists who have additional questions about the songwriting competition can contact the Art Festival & Arts Initiative Coordinator, Heather Majano, at hmajano@cityofeastlansing.com.