NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest Is Live!

The Tiny Desk Contest, NPR Music’s annual showcase for undiscovered musicians, is back for its 11th year and accepting entries.

Artists can submit their Tiny Desk Contest videos HERE.

The 2025 winner will receive a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform their very own Tiny Desk concert, gain mentorship from a music industry expert, and headline a 10-city national tour.

Since its debut in 2014, the Tiny Desk Contest has received more than 50,000 submissions from independent artists across the country, each hoping to perform as part of NPR Music’s signature music discovery series. The submission window opened today, January 14, 2025, at 10 a.m. ET, and runs through Monday, February 10, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Read the complete entry rules here.

This year’s Contest judges include NPR Music producers, member station DJs, musicians and industry professionals:

• Bobby Carter, Tiny Desk series producer and host
• Robin Hilton, host and senior producer of Tiny Desk and All Songs Considered
• Felix Contreras, host of Tiny Desk and Alt.Latino
• Audrey Nuna, Tiny Desk alum
• Alynda Segarra, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Tiny Desk alum
• LaRussell, Tiny Desk alum
• Raina Douris, host of NPR’s World Cafe
• Ayana Contreras, vice president of radio at Rocky Mountain Public Media
• Judy Miller Silverman, publicist, Motormouthmedia

“We have so much to live up to in our 11th year of the Tiny Desk Contest”, says Carter. “Year 10 brought new energy, excitement and a judging panel of who’s who in the music industry. We saw thousands of entries from around the country that wowed us, but The Philharmonik stole our eyes, ears and hearts unanimously. Our tour was bigger than ever, and the people answered the call to action. We’re ready to take another big leap forward in 2025.”

Though there can only be one grand prize winner each year, many other artists who submit will be featured on NPR Music’s social media accounts, YouTube channel, NPR’s broadcast news magazines and in the Tiny Desk Contest newsletter.

Contest judges will highlight outstanding entries via NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest Top Shelf livestream series on YouTube. And returning this year, Tiny Desk fans will also have the opportunity to vote for their favorite video among the Top Shelf features. Stay tuned for more news about the Tiny Desk Contest Fan Favorite later this spring.

Past Tiny Desk Contest winners have launched successful careers after performing at the Tiny Desk. Alisa Amador, the 2022 winner and Little Moon, the 2023 winner, both released new albums and hit the road to support them. Tank and the Bangas, the 2017 winner, released a new album called The Heart, The Mind, The Soul and is set to perform at the iconic Blue Note in NYC. Additionally, The Philharmonik, last year’s winner, will perform at the Electric Forest Festival in Michigan this June.

NPR Music welcomes music from all genres and encourages entrants from previous years to submit new material. To enter the Contest, unsigned musicians must be 18 years old and live in the United States, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico. The artist must perform one original song at a desk, upload a video of the performance to YouTube, and submit a completed entry form at NPR.org/tinydeskcontest.

The 2025 Tiny Desk Contest is presented by Capital One and supported by The Lagunitas Brewing Company. 

Since the Tiny Desk concert series launched in 2008, more than 1,000 performances have been recorded in front of the Tiny Desk bookshelves, which are adorned with years of music souvenirs and memorabilia. Tiny Desk concerts attract 17 million monthly viewers and unify a passionate community around the love of music discovery. The series has provided a unique stage for artists across the genre spectrum and at every phase of their careers, including performances by Juvenile, Olivia Rodrigo, Ivy Queen,Scarface, Harry Styles, Sampha, Arlo Parks, Becky G, the cast of Sweeny Todd and many, many more.

About NPR Music: 

For more than a decade, NPR Music’s robust music journalism has engaged millions of music fans from all genres with feature stories, live performances, cultural analysis and interviews. Projects include the Tiny Desk concert series, the cross-platform Turning the Tables project, the podcasts All Songs Considered, Alt.Latino and radio shows like Jazz Night in America. NPR Music collaborates with NPR’s news programs, public radio Member stations and a passionate listener community to celebrate exceptional music and discover emerging artists. Visit NPRMusic.org and connect with NPR Music on Facebook and Instagram.