FAQ

There are no age restrictions. If you think you can sing Sanatan Sangeet well, you can enter the ISBSC, no matter how young or old you are! There are 4 (four) age groups, for which the age of the contestant will be calculated as of 31 December 2024.

The four Age Groups are –

Kids : Up to 12 Years old | Youth : Up to 20 Years old | Universal : Any Age | Seniors : 65 Years or older.

To make it absolutely clear, think of it this way :

Up to 12 years old contestants can enter under three Age Groups – Kids, Youth and Universal, but cannot enter under Seniors.

13 to 20 years old contestants can enter under two Age Groups – Youth and Universal, but cannot enter Kids or Seniors.

21 to 64 years old contestants can enter under only one Age Group – Universal! They cannot enter under Kids or Youth or Seniors.

65 years or older contestants can enter under two Age Groups – Universal and Seniors, but cannot enter under Kids or Youth.

Email us at sanatansangeet.info@gmail.com if you have any doubts about which Age Groups you are eligible to compete in.

Yes, you can submit again every year, as long as you meet eligibility criteria of Categories, Genres and Age Groups.

Yes, ISBSC can be entered from any country.

Yes, past winners are eligible to enter new songs under eligible categories.

Yes, you can. But ISBSC reserves the right to demand a letter from your record label confirming that they have no objection.

Yes, you can.

Yes, you can enter your song sung by another person under ‘Original’ category if you hold all rights to the song.

We are accepting entries only by email.

ISBSC is essentially a music competition, so you are eligible to enter any song, but it will be judged primarily of its musical merit and then on its lyrical content.

You can enter as many categories as you are eligible to enter, as long as you pay for each entry.

You can enter as many songs as you like. Each song will be considered one unique entry and each Age Group under which you enter, will be considered one unique entry. For example, if you are 14 years old, you are eligible to compete under two Age Groups – Youth (20 years and under) and Universal (any Age), so you can enter one song under any or both categories by paying entry fee for every entry you make.

Every unique entry is charged @ INR701 (Indian Rupees seven Hundred & One). Entries from outside of India will be as per prevailing conversion rate.

Yes, songs longer than 10 minutes are not eligible, so if your song is longer than 10 minutes, please submit an abridged version to make it maximum 10 minutes long.

We encourage you to enter your song at the nearest Category you think is logical, and pay the entry fee. At our end, we will enter it into the correct category if eligible, and inform you. If ineligible, your entry fee will be refunded.

All entries from within India must be received by 11:59PM IST and all entries from outside of India must be received by 11:59pm ET (New York/Toronto time) on 30 October 2024.

The results will be announced in early 2025 on sanatansangeet.org portal, and on our media partners’ online/print portals. The winners will also be personally informed by email.

Historically and traditionally, Sanatan Bhakti Sangeet has several forms in different regions across Bharat. However, for the purpose of simplifying this competition, it has been divided into the two universally accepted Indian Classical Music Genres –

Hindustani (North Indian – Uttar Bharteeya)

Indigenous Sanatani music genres from anywhere in India except Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pudducherri.

and

Carnatic (South Indian – Dakshin Bharteeya)

Indigenous Sanatani music genres from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pudducherri.

It is important to note that the language of rendering is irrelevant in this classification and emphasis is given to the style for determining the basic Genre. i.e. if a Bhakti Geet is sung in Hindi but composed in Carnatic style, it will be entered under the Carnatic category. Similarly, if a Bhakti Geet is sung in Tamil, but composed in North Indian Bhajan style, it will be entered under Hindustani Genre. Judges’ decision as to which basic Genre the entry belongs to will be final and binding.

The above two (Hindustani and Carnatic) Genres will be judged under three Sub-Genres each :

a. Original

b. Traditional

c. Cover

A brief description of the Sub-Genres is as follows :

a. Original : 

Any song that is the entrant’s own original composition, to which the entrant owns all rights (intellectual, music and performance rights), will be treated as original entry. The song can be released or unreleased. If released under a label, the entrant must be prepared to submit a letter from the Record label permitting the entrant to submit the song as his/her own.

b. Traditional : 

Any traditional Sanatani devotional song that does not have a known creator and has been passed down the generations as traditional music that is in public domain and whose intellectual, musical or performing rights are not owned by anyone – such as but not limited to Folk devotional songs, Aartis, Stutis, Shlokas, etc. will be considered under Traditional genre. If the submitted Traditional song is a released or unreleased commercial recording, the entrant must hold all rights, or have the permission from their Record label to submit the song as their own.

c. Cover : 

Any song that is a re-rendering of an already released Original and Traditional song, to which the entrant holds no rights, will be considered a Cover song. i.e. ‘Aisi Laagi Lagan’ by Anup Jalota ji.

Thus, combining the two Genres and the three Sub-Genres, the competition will be judged under 6 distinct Categories :

1a. Hindustani (North Indian/Uttar Bharteeya) Original Song

2a. Carnatic (South Indian/Dakshin Bharteeya) Original Song

1b. Hindustani (North Indian//Uttar Bharteeya) Traditional Song

2b. Carnatic (South Indian/Dakshin Bharteeya) Traditional Song

1c. Hindustani (North Indian//Uttar Bharteeya) Cover Song

2c. Carnatic (South Indian/Dakshin Bharteeya) Cover Song

Not at all! All rights remain with the respective owners. ISBSC claims no rights to any songs submitted for the contest.

ISBSC can only be entered by emailing us your song(s) in MP3 format to sanatansangeet.info@gmail.com, and paying the applicable fees ($10US per entry) by UPI (from within India) or PayPal (outside of India) based on how many categories you enter into.

ISBSC is the abbreviation for International Sanatan Bhakti Sangeet Competition. Simply speaking, Sanatan Bhakti Sangeet is an all encompassing genre used to refer to any devotional music forms indigenous to Bharat’s Sanatani heritage, i.e. directed towards Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and other inherent Sanatan (eternal) indigenous Ishwars, Bhagwans, Devtas, Devis etc. such as but not limited to Shri Brahma, Shri Vishnu, Shri Shiv, Shri Rama, Shri Krishna, Durga Mata, Lakshmi Mata, Saraswati Mata, Gayatri Mata and other Devis, Sikh Gurus (the ten Gurus from Shri Guru Nanak to Shri Guru Govind Singh), 24 Jain Tirthankars (Bhagwan Shri Mahavir and his predecessors) etc., composed and sung in any of the indigenous Bharteey languages from North, South, East, West or Central regions of Bharat such as but not limited to Sanskrit, Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Marathi, Khadi Boli, Bhojpuri, Maithili, Odiya, Bangla, Assamese, Manipuri, Chhattisgarhi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayali, Tamil or any other indigenous language native to or evolved from native Bharteey languages.

One winner from each of the six (6) categories will get a cash reward. Two runner ups from each category will receive honourable mentions. All winners and runner ups will get their songs featured on social media platforms and on partner media portals.

ISBSC entries will be judged by well known specialists and expert musicians from respective genres, so that complete justice is done to each entry, irrespective of language or genre or age group.

Although the sound quality of submitted recording will play an important role in whether the judges are able to listen to it, the judgement will be done solely on the basis of merit of the submitted entry, i.e. its melody, rendering, control over Sur, Taal, Laya, Bhaav (Expressions), Volume control, Uchharan (Diction), Word spacing and overall presentation, and not on the basis of sound quality.

Normally, you will only be notified if your entry wins. However, we can provide a review of the song for a fee upon request.

Intermittent notifications will be sent and updated on website and key milestone dates.

The winners will be announced on ISBSC website and notification will be sent to all entrants by email.

Unfortunately, we cannot notify each entrant when their song has been listened to. However, if your song makes it to a key stage, you will be notified accordingly and the website will be updated.

Now you wait patiently! If your song makes it to key stages, you will be personally notified and the ISBSC website will also be updated to indicate standings. If your song wins, you will be notified by email and the results will be declared on ISBSC website.

We do not acknowledge receipt, but you will get a confirmation whether your entry has been accepted or not.

One winner from each of the six (6) categories will get a cash reward. Two runner ups from each category will receive honourable mentions. All winners and runner ups will get their songs featured on social media platforms and on partner media portals.