The emPower Music Awards
Submissions are now open. They will close Jan 31, 2025.
Finalists will be announced around April 5, 2025
The Posi Music community is a loving and supportive one. We write together, laugh and sing together and support each other whether you’re brand new or a beloved member of our community.
In the spirit of equanimity and a desire not to create a competitive element to the beautiful art of songwriting, we have re-invented the Posi Awards, not as a competition, but as a recognition of excellence in songwriting.
Some background:
Introduced in 2005, The emPower Music Awards celebrate the powerful music and extraordinary artists who are transforming lives and helping to create a world that works for everyone through the power of inspiring, empowering music.
Posi or (Positive) Music is its own unique genre defined primarily by its message. These songs can be any musical style, but have in common messages of peace, unity, healing, emPowerment, personal and global transformation, social justice and environmental sustainability.
Thank you for creating and supporting conscious music for a delicate world.
The Process:
The 20th Annual emPower Music Festival will be held Sept 22-26, 2025 at beautiful Unity Village, MO.
This year’s categories are a bit broader.
Uniting now includes songs about world peace and personal inner peace.
The Spiritual Not Religious category also includes chants and songs for group singing.
Personal Transformation now includes songs about healing – physical, spiritual and mental.
Social Justice is now Social Activism and includes songs about loving the earth, global warming and ecology in general.
Initial submissions are screened by the emPower executive team to make sure they meet quality and appropriateness guidelines. All decisions made by the executive team and/or the judges are final.
- The submission fee is $25 per song/video submitted
- You may submit multiple songs within the same category.
- You may submit the same song to multiple categories.
- You may submit songs for other people.
- You must submit through the website, and include the MP3 audio file and lyrics that you cut and paste into the submission form.
- We will not accept cassettes, CDs sent through the mail, or songs sent to one of the emPower board members. Please use the website.
- Songs should be at least demo quality. If a song has a substandard quality recording, we will disqualify it.
- Music and lyrics must be original (no remakes of famous songs or hymns) and shall not infringe on any copyrights or any other rights of any third party.
- No composition may be entered that has been selected as a finalist for a previous Posi Awards.
- Please fill out the submission form accurately. Remove your name from the lyric sheet you upload. We want the process to be as anonymous as possible.
Songs and videos are rated by emPower Pro Members and past Posi Award winners and nominees.
What to Expect:
This year the top two rated songs/videos in each of the categories will be given the emPower Music & Arts Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting award.
In addition, the recipients receive:
- A performance slot at the 2025 emPower Music Festival
- Complimentary Registration to the event (meal ticket not included)
- Your music featured on the 20th Annual Compilation
- Your music will be automatically placed in the emPower Posi Music Superstore
- Included in the Unity Worldwide Ministries monthly themed song list available to all the Unity ministries.
We have support available to assist you with your questions.
Whether you are a Finalist or not, we hope to see you at the 20th Annual emPower Music Festival!
Submit Entries
- Each submission needs to be paid for individually. We are currently unable to group multiple submissions into a single checkout.
- Each submission costs $25
- In order to save your submission, you need to successfully checkout and pay.
View Your Entries
2025 emPower Music Awards Categories
ECO/GREEN/EARTH – The messages in this category address global climate change, pollution, deforestation and other practices that are damaging to Mother Earth. They may encourage us to eat and live more consciously, start recycling, support renewable energy, or switch to an electric vehicle.
HEALING – Where personal transformation is about learning new ideas and discovery, songs in the Healing category speak to us of the journey from wounded-ness to wholeness. Healing can take place in our relationships with others, in healing our beliefs of prejudice to love and acceptance, and yes even physical healings that seem miraculous.
HUMOROUS –Putting complex ideas into a song is difficult, but even more difficult is to use humor to deliver those deep complex ideas. Hearing positive, empowering messages in music is a gift in itself, but when it makes you smile, chuckle or not take life so seriously, that gift is magnified.
INSPIRATIONAL – These songs inspire us to live our best lives and to pursue our dreams even when they feel unreachable. They can motivate us to take action in our own lives to be a better person and to use our gifts to bless the world.
MUSIC THAT MATTERS / ALL MUSIC MATTERS
This category started as Music That Matters, but of course we know that all music matters! You’ll know a Positive song when you hear it. And if it doesn’t quite fit any of the other descriptions, (or perhaps fits many other descriptions), this category is for you. Songs about a new way of looking at something or contains a reference to a current event, or special place in your life.
PEACE INNER/OUTER – These songs are a call for a peaceful, non-violent world and an end to politically motivated wars and conflicts. But also knowing that such peace must begin within each individual striving to live peacefully and non-violently.
PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION – We’ve all been changed at depth at one time or another by hearing a song that met us right where we stood at that time. These songs emphasize our journey through life and our constant evolution toward higher consciousness. These songs are usually very personal for the songwriter yet are about topics we can all relate to.
POSI MUSIC VIDEO
Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words! Upload your video to YouTube and submit the link as your submission. The video award is given to the artist if different than the songwriter. Videos are rated on their visual artistry and originality. Picture videos will not be considered. The song featured on the video must fit into one of the songwriter categories if submitted separately.
RELATIONSHIPS – This category is for songs about our everyday meaningful relationships and one-on-one interactions with others. They can be about a friend, a family member, a teacher or mentor, significant other, even a pet. Songs that are fitting for dedications, memorials and anniversaries are also welcome. Our focus is on relationships that transcend romantic love.
SPIRITUAL NOT RELIGIOUS/ NEW THOUGHT / GROUP / CHANT –
Posi music also crosses religious lines with a universally spiritual message. This includes Chants and other songs for group singing. These are songs about the interior life the individual and places emphasis on the well-being of the mind-body-spirit, but not in terms that define a specific theology. “Chants” are repetitive prayers or affirmations that are usually short and memorable and that invite you not only to listen but to sing along. The “Group” songs are songs with singable choruses and verses meant to be infectious and to embed a positive idea into our consciousness through the act of singing.
SPIRITUAL SOCIAL ACTION/SOCIAL ACTIVISM/ SOCIAL ACTION & JUSTICE
Posi music is all about creating a world that works for everyone. These songs are meant to spur us to action, whether it be adopting a homeless child, or standing up for the rights of others. These songs are about social justice, and recognizing our interdependence. They should not be “protest songs” or overtly political, for either side. These songs should be more about what we are for rather than what we are against.
TRUE STORY – It is an amazing experience to hear an inspiring story skillfully put to music. These songs tell stories of ordinary people who have done extraordinary things. Or of extraordinary events that have changed our lives. The fact that they are all true makes them even more compelling.
UNITING – These songs should emphasize our similarities and promote values of humanity as one family. Uniting songs bring diverse groups of people together with messages of global peace and diversity. They help us see through the beliefs that separate us to the humanity that binds us together.
Congregational Songs for a new songbook-Submit your congregational songs to be considered for a new songbook coming out in 2025. The songbook will be taken to conferences and having a song included is a great way to introduce folks to your music. Songs should be released within the last three years. Songs will be chosen by the empower team based on lyrics, songwriting, and ease of singing.