NPR announces the 2025 Tiny Desk Contest

The Tiny Desk Contest – NPR Music’s annual nationwide search for the next great undiscovered artist to play a Tiny Desk concert – is back for its 11th year. Artists can enter now through Feb. 10 for a chance to win.

The contest is all about discovering new musical talent. Each year’s winner gets to play their own Tiny Desk concert and go on tour with NPR Music.

Related: Watch a Tiny Desk Concert with 2022 contest winner Alisa Amador

NPR has given potential entrants tips on preparing their entries including:

• Create a new video that shows you playing one song you’ve written.
• Do it the way you’d perform a Tiny Desk concert: at a desk. (Any desk!)
• Review this checklist to make sure your video follows all the rules (and is eligible to win!)
• Upload your video to YouTube (make sure it’s public)
• Submit your video at npr.org/tinydeskcontest before 11:59 p.m. ET on Feb. 10, 2025.

Related: Watch a Tiny Desk Concert with Buffalo Nichols

The winner will: 

• Play a Tiny Desk concert at NPR in Washington, D.C.
• Be featured on NPR’s All Things Considered
• Play NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest On The Road tour
• Be paired with a mentor in the music industry

Additional rules include:

• We’re looking for undiscovered talent; you can’t have a current recording contract.
• You must be at least 18 years old and live in the U.S., U.S.V.I. or Puerto Rico to enter.
• Our panel of judges — including members of NPR Music, DJs from NPR Member stations, industry experts and Tiny Desk alums — will choose our winner.
• Take this quiz to see if you’re eligible.

Additional information is available on the Tiny Desk Contest FAQ page.

NPR also writes that while there’s nothing in the Contest rules that says judges favor early entrants, they often feature the ambitious artist who submits first.

Entry period runs Jan. 14 through Feb. 10. The winner will be announced this spring.

Read the full article on NPR.org

About The NPR Tiny Desk Contest:

Since its inception in 2014, the Tiny Desk Contest has amassed nearly 35,000 entries from thousands of musicians across the country. The rules are simple: Unsigned bands and musicians ages 18 and older must submit a video of themselves performing an original song at a desk of their choice. Contest winners have gone on to tour the world, sign with major labels, open for legendary performers and even receive Grammy awards. More details on the Contest are available on http://tinydeskcontest.npr.org.