Star date: 15th September 2013

LOAN SHARKS SONG WRITING COMPETITION

The Salford Music Festival, which runs 26th - 29th September, is running an anti-loan shark song writing competition, inviting anyone in Salford to create a tune trashing the dodgy money lenders who charge extortionate interest rates. The prize is the making of a music video to go with the fun song.

Full details here…

The Salford Music Festival is running a competition to write an anti-loan shark song with the closing date of the 26th September. Anyone can enter, band or solo songwriter, with the only condition that you have to live or have lived in Salford, or are taking part in this year's Festival.

To make it harder, you're not allowed to swear in the song and it can't contain any samples. But it doesn't have to be a professional demo and can even be recorded on a mobile phone.

The competition's organisers, the Salford Music Foundation (an offshoot from the Festival), state that as well as slagging off loan sharks you can optionally bring in themes like `raising awareness of the dangers of using loan sharks', `promote legal, affordable alternatives', `promote financial management /budgeting to prevent people from using loan sharks' and `preventing crime and disorder, and promoting the stop loan sharks message'.

Salford Council has recently blocked access to pay day lending websites via its library computers, encouraging people to use Salford Credit Union instead, which caps interest rates at 26. 8 per cent APR, compared to over 4000 per cent that pay day lenders can charge.

Firms like Wonga aren't illegal loan sharks, the Illegal Money Lending Team has told us, and don't come under the theme of the competition*

A `celebrity panel' will choose the winning song which will then be made into a video as the prize.

Send entries to competition@salfordmusicfoundation.com by 26th September.

Further details at the Salford Music Festival website – click here

• The Salford Music Festival runs 26th-29th September, features hundreds of bands in loads of venues all over the city, with 95% of gigs free entry. Headliners this year include Ren Harvieu and ASWAD.

• For full details see the Salford Music Festival website www.salfordmusicfestival.co.uk

UPDATE: 18th September 2013   

Er, we have  been asked by the Illegal Money Lending Team which have sponsored this comp to point out that Wonga et al are `legal' money lenders, and that songs shouldn't be about the likes of them because what they do is `legal'. Songs should be aimed at `illegal' loan sharks only.