Godiva Calling – Coventry’s much-loved music competition is back for 2025 and it’s set to be the biggest and best yet, thanks to a new partnership with Music Smart.
This year’s Godiva Calling competition will showcase more up-and-coming talent than ever before with nine winners, offering Coventry and Warwickshire’s emerging artists the chance to take centre stage at this year’s Godiva Festival.
With an incredible prize package on offer, this year’s winners will be given a major boost in their musical journey. Winners will receive a Main Stage slot at Godiva Festival, a full music package including production, studio recording, mixing and mastering, live stream session in the Music Smart Live Lounge, a professional photoshoot and CD printing and distribution by Music Smart.
Music Smart is part of The Pack Smart Group a fulfilment company based in Coventry. Music Smart has been working with artists, labels and management companies for over 16 years delivering music and merchandise direct to fans to bring music to their ears.
Heats will be taking place at venues across the city in May. The venues are Millsy’s Café Bar, The Tin Music and Arts, The Arches, Knights, The Box, HMV Empire, The Khushi Grill Spon End and The Castle Grounds.
This year the competition will see more winners than ever before as new categories have been introduced to increase inclusivity and encourage even greater participation. The four new categories are Contemporary, Desi, Groups and DJ/Dance. Two former categories have been changed – Rap, Reggae and Afrobeats which was previously known as Urban will be included this year as well as Acoustic which was previously known as Singer/Songwriter. The three popular categories set to return are Indie, Rock and Under 18s.
Bookings for the contests will be managed by the appropriate venues for each genre and the Under 18s category will be managed by Coventry Music Hub.
Cllr Abdul Salam Khan, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Events at Coventry City Council, said: “As a city, we are so lucky to host Godiva Calling as it’s a great opportunity for the many talented local artists we have in our city.
“We’re so proud to be giving artists the chance to share their talent on the Main Stage at Godiva Festival to a fantastic crowd.
“We also want to thank our sponsor, Music Smart for making the Godiva Calling competition more exciting than ever before. We’re incredibly grateful for their support.”
Seánna Holland, Business Development Director at Music Smart said: "As a local Coventry business we are thrilled to be supporting Godiva Calling. This year we wanted to focus on fulfilling dreams as well as orders by supporting our city and community and have been looking for opportunities that align with our strong values and resonate with our core brands.
“To be part of the journey with the acts participating in Godiva Calling is exciting - who knows what lies ahead for the bands and singers as they follow their dreams."
Sam McNulty, long time organiser of Godiva Calling is looking forward to seeing this year’s entries. He said: "We had a fantastic response to Godiva Calling last year, so we’ve decided to showcase even more talent this year by expanding the number of categories for the competition. This means more winners will be performing on the Main Stage at Godiva Festival.
“Sponsorship from Music Smart allows us to offer a photoshoot and recording session as part of the prize package which will be a fantastic experience for the winners.
“I encourage as many musicians to enter as possible from across Coventry and Warwickshire to take part in this unique competition.”
Entries for the competition open at 12pm on Monday 28 April. All information such as dates for this year’s heats and finals, plus the rules and the entry form will be available on the Godiva Calling webpage when entries open.
Festivalgoers can look forward to seeing Ocean Colour Scene, Clean Bandit, Marc Almond and many more from Friday 4 – Sunday 6 July in the city’s War Memorial Park. Tickets are on sale now with day passes available from just £10. Ticket prices are set to increase from Tuesday 6 May so those looking to attend are encouraged to purchase tickets as soon as possible to secure them at a lower price.
For further news head to the Godiva Festival website or follow Godiva Festival on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Godiva Festival is brought to you by Coventry City Council. Music Smart is the sponsor of Godiva Calling and Coventry College is the sponsor of the Family Field.
Photo caption from left: Sam McNulty – Godiva Calling organiser, Sandra Godley OBE – Godiva Calling judge, George Ackers – guitarist from Loophole (Godiva Calling Under 18s winners 2024), Seanna Holland – Business Development Director at Music Smart, Cllr Abdul Salam Khan – Deputy Leader at Coventry City Council, Nick Walker – CEO and Founder at Music Smart and Simon Mitchell – Venue Manager at The Castle Grounds