Thomann unveils Montreux Jazz Festival contest offering a one-hour performance slot and a €3,000 fee for the winner.]

Hey! Are you an artist or part of a group playing soul, jazz, funk, hip hop or something in that ballpark? Would you fancy playing at the Montreux Jazz Festival?

Duh! Of course, you would. Well, Thomann is running a competition with a slot at the prestigious event as the top prize.

Now in its 60th year, the event in the Swiss resort has a wide and varied bill this year that includes Pink Pantheress, Sting, Moby, The Roots, Raye, and Loyle Carner. The first prize in the Thomann competition is an hour-long set on a bill with that lot, plus a €3,000 performance fee, all hotel and travel costs covered AND €7,000 worth of equipment from Shure. And, of course, with the exposure of having played a major international festival, an immediate boost to your career…

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There are two runner-up prizes as well, of Shure equipment worth €5,000 and €3,000 each.

So what do you have to do? Well, artists and bands are being asked to submit an application between May 4 and 17 – not before and not after – using an online registration form. Thomann will shortlist ten applications, after which ‘a community vote’ will determine three winners. Those three will in turn be ranked by a jury of experts from the music industry who will select the overall winner.

In a statement, Thomann says: “The organisers are looking for acts with the right sound to play on the Super Bock Stage. The festival no longer focuses solely on Jazz music, so the field is open to all of the different genres that make up the festival’s widely varied palette of modern live music.”

“The goal is not to narrow creativity, but to find an act that is the best fit for this particular stage and festival setting.”

And most importantly, you’d have to be available on July 5 this year, which is when your live performance would take place – the festival runs from July 3 to 18. So if you’re on tour elsewhere on that day, think carefully about whether this is logistically possible…