Participation in the Contest is open to soloists and bands aged 18 to 28, Italian nationality is required for at least one of the members of the band , free from record or publishing contracts in progress .

With regard to the age limit, the following will therefore be able to participate:

1. soloists aged 18 or over at the time of entry;
2. soloists aged 28 or under at the time of entry;
3. groups in which the age limit is respected by each individual member of the band, according to the same specifications indicated for soloists.

As far as bands are concerned, the participation of groups of up to a maximum of 8 members is allowed .

Entries to the Contest will be open from 03 April 2025 at 11.00 (Central European Time) to 28 May 2025 at 23.59 (Central European Time). The popular vote will start on 29 May 2025 and close on 09 June 2025 .

Update 5/16/2024: Competitors shall register no later than May 29, 2024, on the website www.conadjazzcontest.it . Registration is completely free.

Under penalty of exclusion from the Contest, each competitor must:

1. fill in the registration form, entering the following data: name of the group; name and surname of the individual members ( as shown on the identity document ); tax code of each member; musical instrument played by each member; place and date of birth of each member; citizenship and residence of all members; contacts for the organization in case of victory (name and surname of the contact person, telephone number, main email address and reserve email address, to which the group will be contacted in case of communications to the first address do not receive a response); technical registration form (photo of the group; title, authors and duration of the uploaded pieces);
2. upload a front/back copy of each member’s identity document (identity card or passport; the driving license will not be considered a valid document);
3. upload the “Group Release”, filled in with capital letters and signed by all members.
4. load n. 3 songs in audio-only format (.mp3);
5. declare – by ticking the appropriate box – that these songs are free from ongoing recording or publishing contracts. The competitor declares and guarantees that the songs uploaded do not violate or will violate in any way any right, internal and/or international regulation aimed at protecting copyright and the defence of the industrial property rights of third parties. With this declaration, the competitor indemnifies Conad from any damage, prejudice and/or passive contingency that may result.
6. the Competitor must read the Privacy Policy on the website conadjazzcontest.it/privacy ) and sign the explicit acceptance of the regulatory provisions and consent to the processing of data

The process for identifying the winners will see the joint action of 3 juries :

• a technical jury composed of musicians and experts, who will evaluate all the entrants to the Contest (see point 1.a of this article);
• a popular jury open to all , which will also express its preference for all the registered candidates (see point 1.b of this article);
• an artistic jury chaired by Stefano Bragatto , director of Radio Monte Carlo, and composed of musicians and experts, who will express their opinion once the selections are concluded to identify the overall winner of the Contest (see point 2 of this article).

 

Below is a detailed description of the voting and selection dynamics.

 

1) THE SELECTION OF THE 10 FINALISTS

All entrants to the Contest will be evaluated by two juries: a technical jury and a popular jury.

 

1. a) The technical jury

The technical jury composed of musicians and experts will listen to all the uploaded songs, nominating 9 finalists out of a total of 10. The technical jury reserves the right to identify a number of bands lower than 9 if it is not satisfied with the technical and artistic quality of the proposals received.

 

1. b) The popular jury

The popular jury , open to all , will select 1 of the 10 finalists , expressing their vote on the website www.conadjazzcontest.it .

To be part of the popular jury, you will need to register on the site by entering a unique email address and a unique mobile number, which will be used only and exclusively for purposes connected and instrumental to the Contest (for details, please refer to the Privacy Policy uploaded on the site www.conadjazzcontest.it/privacy ).

Each registered user will be able to express their preference through a single vote system (one band, one vote), expressing up to a maximum of 10 votes (for the same band or for different bands).

Voting by the popular jury will open from 29 May at 11.00 (Central European Time) and close at 23.59 on 09 June 2025 (Central European Time).

Please note that the public will be able to vote for each of the groups registered for the Contest for the entire voting period.

At the close of voting, the single group or soloist with the most votes , in addition to entering the list of 10 finalists, will be awarded the popular jury prize (art. 6 point 3).

If the popular vote coincides with that of the technical jury, the jury itself will identify an additional name.

 

2) IDENTIFICATION OF THE WINNER DURING THE LIVE SHOWS

The 10 finalists thus identified will win the opportunity to perform in the official program of the next edition of Umbria Jazz which will be held in Perugia from 11 July to 20 July 2025 .

The performance dates of the finalists are scheduled from July 14th to July 16th , according to a calendar that will be defined in relation to the official program of the event and will be communicated to those interested a few days before the performance date.

During the performances, the artists will be evaluated live by the Artistic Jury chaired by Stefano Bragatto who will judge the competitors based on the originality of the project and the technical and artistic quality of the performance and will decree at its sole discretion the overall winner of the 2025 edition .

The aforementioned performances will be organized, in compliance with timeframes consistent with the safe management of the situation that has occurred, with methods that will be communicated to the finalists via the contact details provided by them at the time of registration and via the website www.conadjazzcontest.it

• THE 10 FINALISTS

The 10 finalists – as described in the previous article – will win the opportunity to perform in the official program of Umbria Jazz ’25 (Perugia, July 11-20). They will also receive an artist pass that will allow them to attend the Umbria Jazz concerts that will take place at the Arena Santa Giuliana.

 

• 1st PLACE BY THE ARTISTIC JURY

The 1st place winner of the artistic jury (see art. 5 point 2) will be awarded the following prizes.

 

1. a) THE ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION

A cash prize of 5,000 euros as a form of support for a musical career.

 

1. b) ITALIAN JAZZ FOR L’AQUILA

The first place winner will be invited to play in L’Aquila on the occasion of the “Italian Jazz for the Earthquake Lands”, scheduled for 6-7 September 2025. one of the largest jazz events in our country, promoted in collaboration with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and a testimony of the concrete support of the artists for the civil, social and cultural reconstruction of the capital of Abruzzo. The winner of the contest must immediately communicate his/her participation.

 

1. c) THE UJ WEEKEND STAGE and THE UMBRIA JAZZ WINTER STAGE

The first place winner will be included in the lineup of UJ Weekend (Terni, 11-14 September 2025) and Umbria Jazz Winter #31 (Orvieto, 28 December 2025 – 1 January 2026). The winner of the contest must immediately communicate his/her participation.

 

 

1. d) THE WELCOME BACK TONY SCOTT STAGE

The first place winner will finally be included in the WELCOME BACK TONY SCOTT lineup which will be held in Salemi in the summer of 2026. The winner of the contest will have to immediately communicate his/her participation.

 

1. e) THE TOUR

In the months following the Festival, the Umbria Jazz organization will promote a concert tour of the winner, consisting of approximately 3 stages between the autumn of 2025 and the spring of 2026, according to a calendar that will be defined and shared via written communication in the months following the Contest.

The concerts may be hosted by jazz clubs and festivals in Italy and/or in the calendar of activities of some of the most important academic institutions and universities in the country.

 

 

There is no compensation for performances to the events/concerts referred to in points b)c )d). The expenses relating to participation, limited to the winner (individual or group) will be supported as follows: the Fondazione di Partecipazione Umbria Jazz will cover the travel expenses and Conad will cover the hospitality and meals.

Invitations to participate in events will be communicated with sufficient advance notice, compatibly with the definition of the calendar of the same: the winner must communicate his/her acceptance and/or waiver within 10 days of receiving the invitation with the dates of the concerts/events, by written communication to the organizers of the competition.

In the event that the winner waives part of the tour, as per point b)c )d), any remaining stages of the tour will be assigned to the second place winner based on the ranking drawn up by the Artistic Jury; the acceptance/waiver of the tour by the second place winner will occur with the same logic as above. Should the second place winner also waive, the remaining tour will not be assigned to other participants or candidates.

 

1. PROMOTION ON THE OFFICIAL SOCIAL CHANNELS OF CONAD JAZZ CONTEST

The first place winner will also receive promotion throughout the tour on the official social channels of the Contest ( instagram and Facebook: conadjazzcontest )

 

1. DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE EP BY UNIVERSAL MUSIC ITALIA

The first place winner will also receive digital distribution, by Universal Music Italia, of the EP resulting from the recording of the performance on stage at Umbria Jazz during the performance as a finalist of the Contest.

 

• THE WINNER OF THE POPULAR JURY

For the most voted by the popular jury (see art. 5, point 1b), a voucher worth 500 euros to be spent by the end of 2024 in a professional recording studio (of the winner’s choice) for the recording your own album.

Should the winner coincide with the artistic jury’s winner, the popular jury’s prize will be awarded to the second most voted group or soloist by the online community.

 

• SPECIAL TALENT RECOGNITION

Finally, also for the 2025 edition the promoters are offering participation in the Berklee Summer School at Umbria Jazz Clinics 2026, which will be assigned at the sole discretion of the technical and artistic juries to the single musician deemed most promising, chosen from all those registered for the Contest, without distinction between soloists and groups.

The shortlist of the 10 selected groups will be communicated directly to the finalists – following the closure of the online voting – through the contacts indicated during registration for the Contest. The list will then be published on the website www.conadjazzcontest.it and on the Facebook and Instagram pages. The same procedure will be followed in the next phase to announce the calendar of exhibitions. The promoters also reserve the right to make the names of the finalists and winners public through communication actions after the closure of the Contest itself, aimed at reporting the results of the initiative and promoting the programming of the Festival.

To formalize the victory and for communication needs, each selected group will be required to promptly send the following materials.

• A short bio /curriculum of the group (max. 1,500 characters).
• One or high resolution photo.
• For the purposes of the performance, stage plot, technical data sheet and track list.

The Umbria Jazz Participatory Foundation will take care of the travel expenses, Conad will take care of the internal transfers (return shuttle to the concert locations ) – and of the hospitality and meals of the 10 finalists in Perugia (accommodation for all the components for 2 nights, on the day of the performance and on the previous one).

As far as travel is concerned, the organization will guarantee the return trip of all the members of the band from the same city in Italy on the same date. Any extra transfers compared to those described (e.g. departing from different cities or on a different date) will be charged to the group.

The exact date and time of the performances at Umbria Jazz of the 10 finalists – from July 14 to July 16, 2025 – will be communicated to those interested a few days before the performance and will depend on the official calendar of the event. The program communicated to the finalists will therefore be considered closed and not subject to changes .

The groups must show up with the utmost punctuality at the times and places communicated by the Organization for the sound-check and the performance, bringing with them a valid identification document and the instruments necessary for their performance, with the exception of the piano, drums and double bass.

In the face of proven impediments related to the date of the assigned performance, the substitution of members of the band is allowed (with respect to what is indicated at the time of registration), in any case to an extent less than 50 percent of the formation. For example, a band composed of 3 elements can replace at most one component. Substitute members will also have to respect the same age constraints as for members.

In the event that one or more finalist groups renounce the opportunity to perform at Umbria Jazz for personal and contingent reasons, the Technical Jury reserves the right to identify substitutes.

By giving up the performance at Umbria Jazz, the artists also give up the other prizes provided.

The prize of the Popular Jury will be an exception, in order to respect the wishes of the voting public: in the event that the winner of the Popular Jury abandons the performance at Umbria Jazz, the right of the group to the voucher worth 500 euros will remain unaffected. for recording your album.

Participation in the Contest implies full and complete acceptance of these regulations. The Competitor declares and guarantees that the songs uploaded do not violate nor will they violate in any way any right, internal or international law aimed at protecting the author’s right and the intellectual or industrial property rights of third parties. With this declaration, the Competitor indemnifies Conad and its successors in title from any contingent liability that may arise and from any direct or indirect liability towards third parties who may consider themselves injured by their performance or by false declarations regarding the pieces.

The Competitor also implicitly authorizes Conad to associate the band’s name with the name or trademark of the promoter and all commercial and media partners of the Contest. Conad also declines all responsibility for damage, accidents, theft or any unforeseen event to things or people that should occur before , during or after the event for facts beyond the control of the organizers themselves.

By accepting this regulation, the groups/bands authorize the audio/video recordings carried out during the event and declare that they have nothing to claim from Conad and the Fondazione di Partecipazione Umbria Jazz for the dissemination of images and audio of the performances, carried out both directly and indirectly through technical partners involved in the Festival (television or radio broadcasters, photographers, web partners) by issuing and signing the relevant release. The Organization reserves the right to create, at the end of the initiative, further phonograph and paper supports containing the songs uploaded to the website www.conadjazzcontest.it at the time of application. The artists, by registering and accepting these regulations, now grant permission for the inclusion of their songs in the promotional material. The right of the author(s) of the song/songs to the intellectual property and to its registration with the SIAE at their own care, cost, burden and responsibility remains intact.

For the purpose of carrying out the Contest, Conad and the Competitor mutually undertake to comply with all obligations set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/679 concerning the “protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and the free movement of such data” (hereinafter GDPR), as well as, within the limits of its applicability, Legislative Decree 196/2003 (hereinafter ” Privacy Code “) and the provisions of the Authority for the protection of personal data.

For more information, consult the Privacy Policy .

The Organization reserves the right to intervene on these regulations, making additions and/or modifications that may be necessary for reasons of an artistic, technical or organizational nature. However, any changes will be promptly communicated online on the website www.conadjazzcontest.it

Winners of previous editions, in the same formation, will not be admitted to the Contest. On the other hand, the registration of individual artists who have already taken part in previous editions is allowed, provided that they are in different formations and provided that the songs uploaded are different from those presented previously, always in compliance with all the other participation criteria set out in the regulation.

There is no provision for an artist to participate in more than one formation at the same time.

All those who collaborate in various capacities in the organization of the Contest and the Festival, as well as relatives and in- laws of members of the artistic and/or technical jury, the staff of Umbria Jazz and the organizers of the Contest are excluded from the competition.

In the presence of such incompatibilities or other violations that may affect the regularity of the Contest, the organization may at any time take the appropriate measures to protect the correct running of the competition.