About the Event

OPEN SIGNAL

This is the first season of Vanguard Music Championship — a public professional music competition on the Vanguard Platform.

The season title is Open Signal.

The idea is simple:

Can your voice cut through the noise?

This is not about having the biggest studio budget.
It is about voice, writing, delivery, presence, control, originality, and impact.

You submit one original audio track. Judges review eligible submissions under the published criteria. Results may be recorded, ranked, displayed, discussed, and preserved as part of the Event record.

Your music stays yours.

Round 1: Choose your signal

Round 1 is the qualifying round.

Submit one original audio track between 60 and 90 seconds.

You can choose one of two directions:

Open Signal

Create a track that defines your signal and cuts through the noise.

Vanguard M.C.

Represent yourself as an M.C. Show your voice, identity, presence, and intent.

Your submission should feel created for this round — not pulled from an old catalogue.

The strongest eligible submissions advance to the 1v1 knockout battle stage.

Read the full brief here: Round 1 Brief

What we judge

We are looking for:

originality;
writing and message;
flow and delivery;
vocal presence;
structure and control;
ability to hold attention;
overall impact.

This is not just about polish.

A clean idea with strong delivery can beat an expensive recording with no presence.

See the scoring details here: Judging & Advancement

Key rules

Individual participation only.
Participants must be 14+.
Participants aged 14–17 need parent or legal guardian authorization.
One participant may submit one Round 1 entry.
Your submission must be original or properly licensed.
You are responsible for beats, samples, loops, collaborators, credits, vocals, likenesses, and permissions.
AI-generated vocals, AI rap delivery, AI singing, AI speech, voice cloning, voice conversion, artificial vocals, or artificial vocal likeness are not allowed.
Do not submit stolen, plagiarized, infringing, misleading, unsafe, or unlawful content.

Read the practical rules here: Rules & Conduct

Prize

The first-place eligible winner may receive a cash prize based on the number of eligible Round 1 submissions.

The maximum cash prize for this Event is CAD $500.

Prize eligibility depends on the final number of eligible submissions, compliance with the Event rules, verification, and prize delivery requirements.

See the full prize scale here: Prizes

Your rights

You keep ownership of your music and creative work.

Vanguard does not become your label, publisher, distributor, manager, producer, agent, or owner.

By submitting, you allow Vanguard to use your submission as needed to run the Event: receive it, host it, judge it, display it in Event pages, publish rankings and results, keep Event records, and protect the integrity of the competition.

Broader promotional use is handled separately under the Vanguard Content Promotion & Media License.

In simple terms:

Your work stays yours. Vanguard can use it to run and document the Event. Broader promo use requires the content license.

Public Event records

This is a public competition.

Some Event-related information may be public, including stage names, usernames, submission titles, submission excerpts, rankings, placements, finalist or winner status, badges, Judge comments, Event reviews, and archive records.

Do not upload private, sensitive, or third-party information unless it is required and you have the right to provide it.

Read more here: Privacy & Public Records

Start here

Before submitting, review these pages:

Legal documents

By registering, joining, submitting, or otherwise participating, you agree to the applicable Vanguard and Event documents presented or linked in connection with the Event.

Please review:

Questions

For Event support, rights questions, privacy requests, technical issues, judging/result questions, or prize coordination:

connect@vanguardnetwork.org

You can also visit: Contact

Full version