If you are a local musician who would like your album to be considered for PlayBack, we encourage you to submit your work during an open submission period.
Our PlayBack collection is inclusive and offers a broad variety of Seattle music. We welcome Seattle musicians of all backgrounds who are recording and performing in the Seattle area to submit your work. During the submission process, we will ask for your zip code and a statement on your relationship to the music scene in Seattle.
You can submit one album per musical act per calendar year. If you are in more than one musical act, you can submit one album for each musical act you are in. If your album is not accepted, you may submit it again during the next calendar year.
We select up to 50 albums to add to our collection per calendar year. If your work is selected for PlayBack, you will sign a license agreement and receive an honorarium of $200 for sharing your music. You can choose a 5-year license term or a lifetime license term.
A jury made up of local music community leaders and Library staff selects the albums for PlayBack from the submissions we receive. Our jury helps us create a diverse and inclusive collection that provides exposure for new artists and reflects Seattle’s current music scene. Our jury members also help curate the PlayBack collection and promote it in their organizations and professional networks. We rotate our jury members so that we can collaborate with many different individuals and organizations.
We are excited to have the following music community members on the PlayBack jury:
Our jury also has members of The Seattle Public Library staff who share a passion for and background in music:
PlayBack is our free, online local music collection that captures the diversity of Seattle’s music scene. The collection gives listeners a chance to hear great music, discover local artists and provides an opportunity for Seattle musicians to introduce their music to new audiences.
PlayBack does not support Internet Explorer. Please use a different browser to access the collection.