Once again, another opportunity rises up to make songwriters and bands to put on their thinking caps and pull out that creative spirit out of the shelf. Not only musicians are about to be put into the pinnacle of the songwriting pedestal, but fans who would become critics and judges get their own opportunity too to prove to Jean Sibelius that in very rare instances, critics can have their own monuments of success too. The Cakewalk and Onstage.Com "Your Music, Anytime, Anywhere" songwriting contest has just been announced to make sure that the most inspired musical minds and their critics express with unabashed bravado their hearts and minds (o how cliché could this get any further?). The thing is, at the time I'm writing this down, some songwriter out there might be beating you to the punch so read on.

As a basic introduction to the contest, if you're a musician/songwriter/artist who is a permanent resident of the United States and has that really amazing Rock or Urban song brewing inside your head, joining the contest starts with a free registration at Ourstage.Com. After recording your song, you may then upload it using your account and submit it to either the Rock or Urban contest. Once submission has been completed, your song will be automatically entered into the “Your Music Anytime, Anyplace” Channel where fans may vote for your song starting November 1, 2009. Three winners from the Rock category and another three for the Urban category will win an Intel Core i7 Mobile processor-powered laptop, Cakewalk V-Studio 100, Cakewalk SONAR 8.5 Producer, Rapture (virtual instrument), and Cakewalk MA-15D studio monitors. Winners will be announced at the Winter NAMM show in Anaheim, CA on January 14, 2010.

Fans also have a part in this too. Besides voting for their favorite songs, two lucky ones will also get a chance to win an Intel Core i7 Mobile processor-powered laptop, Cakewalk Music Creator 5, Cakewalk Pyro Audio Creator 1.5, Cakewalk UA-25EX USB audio interface, and Cakewalk MA-7A micro studio monitors. Joining as a fan involves registering for a free account then judging songs in the Rock and Urban Channels.

Details and other terms of the contest can be obtained through Ourstage.Com. All in all, you get three options to win some cool new gear. You can either go for a slot at Rock or Urban categories for a chance to win an approximately 3,000.00 USD value in prizes, or as a fan/judge for a prize package worth about 2,000.00 USD. In lean times, people may often go for broke; this allows you to do just that in a much more secure manner.