Can I submit AI music to contests?

The landscape

Three kinds of opportunities exist for AI musicians right now:

• AI-native contests — built for AI music: the AI Song Contest (running since 2020), hackathon showcases, tool-vendor challenges. AI use isn't just allowed, it's the point.
• AI-open contests — mainstream opportunities with explicit AI rules: some allow AI with disclosure, some restrict specific techniques (voice cloning is the most common exclusion), some cap the allowed degree of AI contribution.
• AI-silent contests — rules written before generation tools existed. Submitting undisclosed AI work here is the risk zone: rule updates and retroactive disqualifications happen.

How we track this

Every opportunity record on this site carries structured AI rules where the organizer has published them: allowed degree, whether prompt-only work qualifies, disclosure requirements, and voice-cloning rules — each with a source link. Where an organizer hasn't said anything, the field reads unknown, which is itself information: ask before you submit.

Browse the live deadlines list for what's open now — the ./deadlines page is sortable by type, and music-submission calls carry their AI rules inline.