The FCLMA Youth Award 

The annual Youth Award is determined by the Battle of the High School Bands. Judges determine the winner at the end of the competition.

The winning entry receives; One song professionally engineered and produced by Simon Larochette at Sugar Shack Recording Studio.  The song is mastered by award winning producer & mix engineer Robert Nation at EMAC Studio. The finished song will receive airplay on a Corus Radio London Station. 

The winner also performs live at the annual awards show.

Rules & Regulations

One member of the band/artists must be registered full time student from the secondary school they are representing.

Band members can only play in one act. FCLMA Battle of the High School band winners from previous years are no longer eligible.

All members’ names, school and band name must be registered through the registration form. Each band/artist must also email their band name with logo or band photo and a short bio (25 words) that describes the musical history of the band/artist,  to bandbattle@fclma.ca

Each act is required to play a minimum of eight minutes of material, up to a maximum of twelve (12) minutes. Original material is one of the criteria and will increase a bands score. The time allocation will be strictly enforced. Any band exceeding the twelve (12) minute maximum time will have points deducted from their final score.

Your back line for the show will be supplied, and will consist of: a drum kit, bass and guitar amp, and all of the microphones needed for the performance. Drummers must bring their own snare drum, seat and sticks; they may add one extra cymbal and/or percussion piece that is not a drum.

FCLMA’s Battle of The High School Bands/Youth Award Committee lead is Scott Bollert. For production related questions contact Scott at: bandbattle@fclma.ca

Submissions now closed for 2024.

Judging Elements:

The FCLMA will assemble a panel of London media and music industry individuals who will determine the winner and their decision is final. Four specific areas of judging:

1. Music ability
2. Originality
3. Stage presence
4. Overall impression.

* Self promotion is an integral part of being in independent bands of today, so 5% of a band’s score will be calculated based on their ability to promote this event on Social Media.  Each band will receive a link to a Facebook event which is to be posted to the band’s Facebook Band Page (please create one if one doesn’t exist).  The night of the event, the total number of Facebook Shares that the original Band Page post has will be used in the scoring.

** Drawing a fan-base to your show is an important part of being in a band. Every audience member that pays to enter the show will be given the chance to register as a fan for the one band they came to support. 5% of the bands total score will be calculated based the number of their fans that are in attendance.