Glastonbury Festival has once again announced the return of its Emerging Talent Competition for 2025.
The competition – which is once again supported by PRS for Music and the PRS Foundation – gives new UK and Ireland-based acts of any musical genre the chance to compete for a slot on one of the main stages at this year’s Festival.
The winners of the free-to-enter competition will also be awarded a £5,000 Talent Development prize from PRS Foundation to help take their songwriting and performing to the next level. Two runners-up will also each be awarded a £2,500 PRS Foundation Talent Development prize.
Acts from any musical genre can enter the 2025 competition FOR ONE WEEK ONLY via Glastonbury’s official website, from 9am Monday 27th January until 5pm Monday 3rd February 2025.
To enter, acts must supply a YouTube link to one original song, plus a link to a video of themselves performing live. Under the Festival’s continued commitment to diversity and inclusivity, ETC 2025 also welcomes entries from disabled artists, who will be supported to ensure the process does not disadvantage them.
Once the entries are in, a panel of 30 of the UK’s best music writers will help compile a longlist of 90 acts. The longlist will then be narrowed down to a shortlist of eight artists by judges including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis, before the live finals in Pilton decide the winning act.
Last year’s ETC 1st place went to Jamaican-Irish rapper JayaHadADream, who has since seen her work featured across national TV, radio and media, as well as performing at other major festivals including Reading, Leeds and Boomtown.
Speaking about her ETC experience, she explained: “Winning the Glastonbury competition changed my life in many ways. It opened up so many opportunities.
“I’ve had a lot of industry and press interest and worked with artists I’ve grown up listening to. It also allowed me to print my vinyl through the funding which was a dream come true. My fanbase has grown too thanks to this!
“The actual experience of the festival was unlike anything I have ever been to. It makes me emotional thinking about it because it was inspiring, hopeful and therapeutic. Everything about the experience was magical! I still can’t believe I performed on a Glastonbury main stage and my name’s on the T-shirt!”
Other recent finalists include 2023 winner N’famady Kouyaté, 2022 runners-up English Teacher (who bagged the 2024 Mercury Prize), rapper Flohio (who won the prestigious Music Moves Europe Talent Award in 2020) and R&B singer Izzy Bizu (a 2016 BRITs Critics’ Choice nominee and winner of the 2016 BBC Music Introducing Award).
In 2015, Declan McKenna won the Emerging Talent Competition and subsequently released three successful albums. He played on the Woodsies stage at last summer’s Glastonbury, following appearances at the event in 2022, 2017 and 2016.
Other acts to previously win the prestigious award include 2022 winner Lewis McLaughlin; 2019 winner East Sussex’s Marie White; 2017 winner Soul singer Josh Barry (who has since toured with Rag’n’Bone Man and Gorgon City); 2016 BRITs Critics’ Choice nominee and winner of the 2016 BBC Music Introducing Award, R&B singer Izzy Bizu.
Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis said: “We know how hard it is for new acts to take their first steps towards a career in music – particularly with the challenges facing small venues in this country – so the Emerging Talent Competition is a hugely important part of Glastonbury’s annual calendar. I can’t wait to hear the entries from across all the musical genres. And it’s free to enter, so you’ve nothing to lose!”
Crispin Hunt, President of the PRS Members’ Council, said: “For more than 20 years the Emerging Talent Competition has discovered and nurtured new voices, created a global platform and offered musicians the opportunity to gain exposure in front of large audiences.
“Playing Glastonbury was one of the most amazing experiences of my career and I’d encourage all music creators to submit a song for a chance to perform at the world’s largest greenfield music and performing arts festival. With our charity arm, PRS Foundation, I’m proud that we continue to support artists and songwriters stepping up and into the live and festival scene.”
Becci Scotcher, Senior Grants & Programmes Manager at PRS Foundation said: “Each year the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition sees applications from the huge array of talent that are at the beginnings of their music career and from all over the UK.
“In partnership with our friends at Glastonbury Festival and PRS for Music, this is a fantastic opportunity for the next generation of music creators to not only win the coveted prize of performing at the legendary Glastonbury Festival but to also receive vital PRS Foundation funding support to develop their careers.”
She continued: “This partnership has seen the winners and runners up go on to tour all over the UK and overseas, feature on legendary shows such as Later… with Jools Holland, and even win the Mercury Prize. In what will be PRS Foundation’s 25th year, we are very much looking forward to seeing which talented artists apply this year.”
Line-up and rumours
Earlier this month, Neil Young was announced as the first headliner for Glastonbury 2025 after he initially pulled out of the festival due to it being “a corporate turn-off”. The Canadian-born singer, songwriter icon said: “We were told that BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot of things in a way we were not interested in.”
However, Young then backtracked on these remarks shortly afterwards, acknowledging that there had been “an error in the information received”. “Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there!” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Rod Stewart was announced for this year’s coveted Legend Slot late last year, while Nile Rodgers accidentally let it slip that he and Chic are set for a performance at Glastonbury 2025.
Although no other acts have been announced as of this moment in time, speculation about who might play the legendary festival is always very high, and with the summer’s event fast approaching, the Glasto Rumour Mill is already spinning in full force.
The first line-up poster is usually revealed around the beginning of March, followed by the full line-up announcement sometime at the end of May (and a string of individual area line-up announcements in between). That said, many artists ‘self-confirm’ before the official announcements by divulging the news via interviews, social media or website listings to accompany the ever-growing rumours.
Some potential prominent headliner names currently making the rumour rounds include Olivia Rodrigo, Sam Fender and The 1975, to name a few — View our daily updated list of acts confirmed, rumoured and unlikely to perform at Glastonbury 2025 so far, by clicking here.
Ticket Opportunities
The Glastonbury 2025 Autumn ticket sales took place last November with the introduction of a new queueing system, which saw Ticket Plus Coach Travel packages and General Admission tickets sell out within 32 minutes and 40 minutes, respectively.
In addition to the upcoming ticket re-sales (expected to go on sale in the spring), some other opportunities for getting to Glastonbury include volunteering and working at the Festival, as well as entering competitions (once those options make themselves available).
Some past chances for winning tickets in previous years included opportunities from Brothers Cider, The Guardian, Vodafone, Time Out, White Claw, Tony’s Chocolonely & Oxfam, Chilly’s, Hunter Boots, Barbour & Oxfam, Co-op & Brooklyn Pilsner, and more.
The sold-out Glastonbury Festival is set to return this summer and will run from the 25th to the 29th of June 2025 in Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset.
⚠️ Bogus Operators
Glastonbury Festival would very much like fans to be aware that there are people out there who will try and sell fake Glastonbury tickets to unsuspecting, willing and innocent potential purchasers. Although Glasto-veterans who have been going to the Festival for quite some time may recognise these scams for what they are, newcomers might not.
Please do not risk falling victim to touts, bogus operators or fake promotions / contests. If you have doubts about any company offering tickets, accommodation or competitions to access Glastonbury Festival, please get in touch with the Festival office – And as always, remember that tickets are sold only on one site, which is glastonbury.seetickets.com
