Musician of the Year 2025
*Please note: No Jury comments provided in this annual competition. This competition is for performer candidates only. Applicants must submit a video of their own performance.
Rules & Requirements
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Only participants on This List are eligible to enter. No application fee required.
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One-Round Competition with Special Video Requirements. Videos failed to meet Annual Video Requirements will not be accepted.
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There will be a preliminary check for video and eligibility. Only approved participants move to the final selection.
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All video performances approved for the final selection will be open to the public for audience voting. The final ranking will be determined by both jury marks and audience votes. Read More
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Video Submission Deadline: 1st April 2025, 23:59 London Time (no late submission accepted)
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Estimated Results Date: 21st April 2024
AWARDS
Prizes including £1000 total cash award, teacher certificates, special edition champion trophies, interviews, online concert invitations, CD awards and LYM exclusive teddy bears. All candidates will receive an e-certificate and a special Musician of the Year e-card. Prize/Award winners can also request e-certificate for their teachers. *No jury comments provided in this annual competition. Find Out More«
WORLD TOP 50 Musicians
Entering Musician of the Year means you have more chance to be the World Top 50 Musicians. This annual ranking is calculated based on both seasonal & annual competition results in competition year 2024-25. The 6 points you used for entering annual competition will still be counted in this ranking. Check Awards«
Annual Video Requirements
The application for annual competition will be failed if the submitted video does not match all requirements below:
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The applicant must be a performer candidate and apply to this competition with a video of their own performance.
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All candidates must say the sentence "London Young Musician 2025", or hold up a piece of paper with this sentence written on it, to the camera at the beginning of the performance. The performance and speech/paper-holding must be recorded in ONE take. Check Example «
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The performance video MUST be specifically recorded for the London Young Musician 2025 annual competition. Editing a speech clip onto an old video will not be accepted.
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To ensure that the performance recordings are specifically intended for the year-end competition, candidates must say or display the opening speech "London Young Musician 2025" again when presenting a new piece in a different location or time through a fresh video take.
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If candidates are willing to use their own compositions for the competition, they must appear and perform their own works in the entire video. Midi/audio is only allowed for accompaniment use.
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Candidates must appear and perform in the entire submitted video.
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Each candidate can only apply ONE category.
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Each candidate can only send ONE video – this video can include one or more pieces.
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The submitted video must meet the limited time requirement for the category: Talent Category (age 10 & under) - video less than 5 minutes; Artist Category (age 15 & under) - video less than 10 minutes; Master Category (age 28 & under) - video less than 15 minutes.
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The video is encouraged to be creative, but this is NOT a must. Here are some ideas for reference:
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Perform with other musician(s).
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Perform candidates' own work or their own arrangement. If candidates are willing to use their own compositions for the annual competition, they must appear and perform their own works in the entire video. Midi/audio is only allowed for accompaniment use in the annual competition.
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For candidates who have mastered more than one instrument, they could make a video where they played different instruments.
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A performance video in which one person plays multiple parts of the same piece is allowed. Watch the example from our previous candidate who played the piano duet alone, starting from 1:55.
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Add special effects to the performance video, but the video must also meet the other requirements mentioned above.
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2025 Annual Awards
Awards here are NOT for Season 1-4 Competitions
Musician of the Year is a special annual event for performer candidates only.
Final 1st Place
A single winner in each age-category will receive:
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Cash Award (£300 for Master category; £150 for Artist category; £80 for Talent category)
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a Champion Trophy and a Paper Certificate
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a Featured Online Article Interview
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an Online Concert Invitation
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A Featured Post on Social Media
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Winner E-card and Video Displayed in the Hall of Champions
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Featured in the LYM Annual Showcase Video
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Chance to Order Award CD (*additional cost)
*All instruments and vocals compete together in the same age-category. The Grand First Prize will be awarded to a single winner in each age-category.
Scoring 105-120 Marks
Musician of the Year Award winners will receive:
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Winner E-certificate
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Winner E-card (*digital format)
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an Online Concert Invitation
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Featured in the LYM Annual Showcase Video
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Chance to Order Paper Certificate & Winner Medal (*additional cost)
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Chance to Order Award CD (*additional cost)
Audience Vote
Two Fans' Favourite Awards will be given to the participants with the highest number of audience votes among all those who took part in the audience voting.
The winners will receive:
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a London Young Musician™ special edition Teddy Bear
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Winner E-certificate
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Winner E-card (*digital format)
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Chance to Order Paper Certificate & Winner Medal (*additional cost)
*All video performances approved for the final selection will be open to the public for audience voting. Fans' Favourite Award will be determined solely by the audience votes ranking, with all participants being considered together, without division into categories.
Competition Year 2024-25
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All annual Prize/Award winners are eligible to request a free e-certificate for their teachers.
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All annual Prize/Award winners are eligible to order paper certificates and medals for their teachers (*additional cost)
Final 2nd Place
A single winner in each age-category will receive:
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Cash Award (£150 for Master category; £90 for Artist category; £50 for Talent category)
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a Winner Medal and a Paper Certificate
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an Online Concert Invitation
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a Featured Post on Social Media
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Winner E-card and Video Displayed in the Hall of Champions
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Featured in the LYM Annual Showcase Video
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Chance to Order Award CD (*additional cost)
*All instruments and vocals compete together in the same age-category. The Grand Second Prize will be awarded to a single winner in each age-category.
Scoring 95-104 Marks
Annual Star Award winners will receive:
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Winner E-certificate
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Winner E-card (*digital format)
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Chance to Order Paper Certificate & Winner Medal (*additional cost)
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Chance to Order Award CD (*additional cost)
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E-certificate for winner's teacher
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Chance to order paper certificate & medal for winner's teacher (*additional cost)
*Candidates scoring 105 marks or higher will automatically receive the Musician of the Year Award and will not be considered for the Annual Star Musician Award.
Competition Year 2024-25
This award will be given to musicians who have achieved significant accomplishments by winning awards in all four seasonal competitions and the annual competition held in 2024-25.
The winners will receive:
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Winner E-certificate
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Special Badge on the Winner E-card (*digital format)
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A Featured Post on Social Media
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Winner E-card Displayed in the Hall of Champions
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Chance to Order Paper Certificate & Winner Medal (*additional cost)
Final 3rd Place
A single winner in each age-category will receive:
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Cash Award (£100 for Master category; £50 for Artist category; £30 for Talent category)
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a Winner Medal and a Paper Certificate
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an Online Concert Invitation
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a Featured Post on Social Media
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Winner E-card and Video Displayed in the Hall of Champions
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Featured in the LYM Annual Showcase Video
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Chance to Order Award CD (*additional cost)
*All instruments and vocals compete together in the same age-category. The Grand Third Prize will be awarded to a single winner in each age-category.
Jury Nomination
The Annual Special Award may be granted for candidates who demonstrate unique qualities in their annual performance.
Special Award winners will receive:
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Winner E-certificate
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Winner E-card (*digital format)
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Chance to Order Paper Certificate & Winner Medal (*additional cost)
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E-certificate for winner's teacher
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Chance to order paper certificate & medal for winner's teacher (*additional cost)
Competition Year 2024-25
Top 1 winner will receive:
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a Special Edition Crystal Plaque«
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Top 1 Winner's Teacher will Receive Distinguished Teacher Award Paper Certificate
Top 3 winners will receive:
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an Featured Online Article Interview
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a Featured Post on Social Media
Top 15 winners will receive:
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Opportunity to make EP/CD album with True Art Music label (*additional cost)
Top 50 winners will receive:
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Chance to Order Paper Certificate & Annual Winner Medal (*additional cost)
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Chance to Order Award CD (*additional cost)
*World Musicians Ranking 2024-25 is calculated according to the total score of the winner gained in LYM 2024-25 competition year (including 24-25 Season 1 to Season 4, and Musician of the Year 2025). Read More «