Glastonbury has launched its Emerging Talent competition for 2025, giving new artists the chance to perform at this year’s festival. Find all the details below.
The annual competition is free to enter for UK and Ireland-based acts “of any musical genre” between 9am GMT next Monday (January 27) and 5pm GMT on Monday February 3. Visit here to do so.
Those who submit their details will compete for a slot on one of the main stages at Glastonbury 2025.
The winners will also be awarded a £5,000 Talent Development prize from the PRS Foundation “to help take their songwriting and performing to the next level”. Additionally, two runners-up will each receive a £2,500 PRS Foundation Talent Development prize.
Per a press release, organisers are “committed to diversity and inclusivity and we welcome entries from disabled artists, who we will support to ensure they are not disadvantaged by the process”.
A panel of 30 UK music writers will help compile a longlist of 90 artists from the entries. This will then be narrowed down to a shortlist of eight acts, chosen by a judging panel including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis.
The live finals are set to take place in Pilton, Somerset, where the winning name will be decided.
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, added: “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, commented: “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.”
The 2024 winner was 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.
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 songwriting 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 backtracked on these remarks shortly afterwards, admitting 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.
Glasto ’25 ticketholders have since been sharing their thoughts on Young’s upcoming return. He previously headlined Glastonbury back in 2009 alongside Bruce Springsteen and Blur.
Meanwhile, Rod Stewart will take on the coveted Legend Slot on the Pyramid Stage this year, with Nile Rodgers & Chic also confirmed. No other acts have been announced yet. The first official line-up poster usually arrives in March.
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