Call for entries: Yamaha E-Band Competition

The Yamaha E-Band Competition is billed as one of the first amateur band competitions showcasing recorded video performances of music talents from diverse cultures.

The winning band will earn a chance to compete at the Asian Beat 2016 band competition grand finals on 5 November in Tokyo, Japan. Outstanding individual instrumentalists also stand a chance of winning Yamaha equipment, such as the RS620 Revstar Electric Guitar, TRBX505 Bass Guitar, MX61 Synthesizer and DTX450K Electronic Drums, while the artist named Best Vocalist will win a Yamaha MG10XU Mixer and MSP3 Studio Monitors.

Unsigned bands from the following African countries are encouraged to submit their applications: Angola, Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Reunion, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia.

The competition is also open to musicians from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Moldova, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.

Participating bands can consist up to six members. All music genres are welcome except for classical music. All band members must be amateurs and no member of the band should have had any contract with a record company during the course of the competition.

How to enter

To register your band, interested participants need to submit a recorded video of their live performance of no longer than six minutes. These videos will be published for public viewing and the winning videos will be inserted and used in Yamaha's online advertising campaign.

The judges will assess the submissions based on the following criteria:

• Originality and quality of arrangements
• Showmanship
• Overall sound and control
• Technical proficiency of individual instruments
• Marketability and 'X-factor' of the band

Interested bands can register via Yamaha Music Gulf website or Facebook page. The deadline for applications is noon (Gulf Standard Time) on Wednesday 31 August.

In Uganda, registration for bands will take place between 18 and 27 August at the Yamaha Music Showroom (Selak Limited) located on Kampala Road.

The winners will be announced on 15 September.

For inquiries click here.