Black Women in Music
Highlight Black women in the music industry who inspire you.
Prizes
- First place:
- $1,000
- Second place:
- $500
- Third place:
- $250
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Feb 17, 2021
Submissions closed
Feb 24, 2021 5:59 AM CUT
Results
Feb 26, 2021
Prizes
- First place:
- $1,000
- Second place:
- $500
- Third place:
- $250
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Feb 17, 2021
Submissions closed
Feb 24, 2021 5:59 AM CUT
Results
Feb 26, 2021
About this challenge
From the early stages of music, beginning with Blues and Jazz in the ’20s to hip-hop and pop music from the ’90s onward, you will find one common denominator: Black women leading the way.
Whether behind the scenes, in front of the mic, building empires, or shaking things up in the boardroom, Black women play a significant role in moving music forward every single day.
For this Challenge, we want you to highlight some of the songwriters, musicians, executives, and producers who have left their mark on music – and even on you. Enter this Challenge and share the biggest hits or most significant contributions by Black women in music! How did their career impact your views on music? On what level do their lives and decisions resonate with you? Does their presence in the music industry bring visibility to you and other important causes? Whether they’re responsible for your favorite record of all time or for shaping your career choices, share a story celebrating and honoring Black women in the music industry.
It’s hard to imagine what the world would sound like without their voices. ❤️
How to enter
For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 5,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until February 23, 2021, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Black Women in Music Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.
To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these 39 countries will not be eligible to win.
Open challenges
Challenges you can enter now for a chance to win.
Challenge resources
In Eclipse Challenge Winners
Creator Dane BH is one of our Vocal stalwarts. We’re so grateful to all of your in our Vocal community, and so thrilled by your achievements. This is the third time Dane has won one of our challenges, and she appears too on our Vocal podcast, Write Here, Write Now — take a listen if you haven’t already. But she’s not our winner because we know her: the subtlety and simplicity of we watched the world go dark. together. is what made it our winner of the In Eclipse challenge, with the grace and ease of its lines and observation. As it happens it also expresses the community spirit that means so much to us.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 4 days ago in ResourcesWhispering Woods Challenge Winners
Congratulations to Morgan Christy Rickards for their winning Whispering Woods story, Guardian at the Gate. Morgan has been a Vocal creator since February 2021, and this is their first time placing in Challenge — well done, starting with a win! Guardian at the Gate draws evocatively from Welsh tales of the Cantre'r Gwaelod, a lost sunken kingdom between the forest and the sea. Heledd’s dangerous adventure pulls her towards the water but her spirit is anchored in the woods: Morgan’s writing is atmospheric and exciting.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished about a month ago in ResourcesSnacktime Sonata Challenge Winners
Well, your Snacktime Sonatas made us hungry, and that’s about the highest compliment we have. Food — taste, smell, sensation — is a powerful conduit to the past, to memories pleasurable and painful and sometimes bittersweet, a mixture of comfort and challenge. Congratulations to Penny Fuller for Sativa — it’s a first win for Penny — a hymn to the “secret, unbounded/freedoms” of fresh peas in the pod. The narrative voice of the poem doesn’t really want to be outside, but finds joy in the green things of the earth; this is a lovely work of resilience.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished about a month ago in Resources