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Jewish Songwriting Competition Narrows Down Finalists from 350 to 30

Jewish Songwriting Competition Narrows Down Finalists from 350 to 30

By Yehudit Garmaise

Two months after Jewish songwriters worldwide submitted lyrics to the Jewish Songwriting Contest created by Brooklyn music producer Moishy Goldstein, every single one of the songs has finally been heard.

Tunes and lyrics were sent in by a whopping 350 entrants ages 8 to 78 from 70 different countries.

“Once the submission count exploded on my WhatsApp, it was clear I would need a platform to organize and catalog the hundreds of submissions to provide a streamlined, user-friendly listening process for the panelists,” Goldstein told BoroPark24. “So I started coding a platform for that.”

Several weeks and hundreds of lines of code later, Goldstein was ready to start organizing, cataloging, and uploading his hundreds of entries.

The online system that Goldstein created is a website to which the judges can log in and hear the entries.

“Without this platform, there was no way I could distribute the songs to all the judges in an organized way,” Goldstein said.

"In addition to the contest's judges, several famous Jewish singers who are looking to buy songs to record on their new albums have asked Goldstein for access to his website to hear the original compositions of the contest's entrants.

Goldstein, who owns Music Studio NYC in Crown Heights, has produced songs with many Jewish stars, such as Benny Friedman, Eli Marcus, and Mendy J.

Sitting with Goldstein on his male panel to listen to the entries written by men are none other than singer Avraham Fried and composer Yossi Green. 

Listening to the songs submitted by women, who sent in 42% of the total entries, are singer Bracha Jaffe and singer-songwriters Esther Freeman and Chaya Kogan.

Although Goldstein cannot predict exactly when he and his panelists will choose the winners, he said that his team is getting closer every day. 

"There are at least 30 songs in the collection that I'd call "5-star" songs, which is precisely what makes the decision process so arduous," Goldstein said.

What are the panel of experts looking for in the 350 songs written by entrants?

“A really good Jewish song makes you feel more Jewish and closer to Hashem,” Fried told BoroPark24.

The four winners will get to produce their songs professionally at no cost in a process that involves: music creation, vocals recording, mixing, and album art. 

Runners-up will receive significant discounts to record their songs at the studio, said Goldstein, who wants to enable more Jewish songwriters to record their work.

"There is so much talent out there that sadly never sees the light of day," Goldstein said.

Professional singers who are interested in buying one of the contestants' songs can contact Goldstein at (347) 988-0780.



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