CONTEST

Barbershop Quartet Tag Contest

All members of the quartet must actively be attending school and be in grades 6 – 12 or actively attending a college, provided that each college student is 25 years old or younger.
There can be only one Teacher/Director and school listed per quartet.
The School District or college must serve one of the 9 Counties making up the Houston TX area – Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller Counties.
The maximum of tags submitted by one quartet is one.
An individual singer may be a member of only one quartet per category.
A school may submit entries from more than one quartet.

Submit by March 22, 2026.
The tag must be 100% a cappella and in the barbershop style.
Barbershop Tag sources may include, but are not limited to:
1. Download tags from the Barbershop Harmony Society.
2. Download tags from Barbershop Tags.
3. SmartPhone Apps
  1. Tag Master (iPhone/iPad, Android, and Windows Phone.
  2. Tagly (Android and iOS.
  3. Tag You’re It (Android).
  4. Goodtags (Android and iOS).
  5. OnlyTags (iOS).
Record your quartet contest video and post the tag as an Unlisted YouTube video.
A tag may be entered into one of three categories – Mixed, Tenor-Bass, or Treble Quartets.
Mastering or alteration shall not be made to the recordings, including the addition of reverb.
The preferred method is that the tag be recorded “live” with all four singers in the same room.
Musical alterations to a tag are acceptable, so long as they conform to the barbershop style.
The maximum length of the tag is 45 seconds.
The Tidelanders will acknowledge receipt of all submissions.

The tags will be judged by a panel of Tidelanders led by our Musical Director.
Entries will be scored on Tag Difficulty, Healthy Singing, Music Execution, Quartet Balance and Blend, and Visual Performance.
The judging will be “blind”. Be sure that your submission does not include any school-identifying information in their videos.
The decision of the judges is final.

Winners will be announced on April 11, 2026.
Winners will be notified by email to the Director/Teacher on the Submission Form.
Cash will be distributed:

For High School Quartets:

- For Best in Category: $50 to each singer in the Quartet and $150 to the school’s music program.
- For Second in Category: $25 to each singer in the Quartet and $100 to the school’s music program.
- For Best in Contest: an additional $25 to each singer in the Quartet and $50 to the school’s music Program.

For Middle School Quartets:

- For Best in Category: $25 to each singer in the Quartet and $100 to the school’s music program.
- For Second in Category: $10 to each singer in the Quartet and $50 to the school’s music program.
- For Best in Contest: an additional $25 to each singer in the Quartet and $50 to the school’s music Program.

The Quartet Classification (High or Middle School) will be assigned by the highest grade level of any singer in the quartet.

For College Quartets:

- 1^st Place, regardless of Category, $50 to each singer in the Quartet and $200 to the college’s music program.
- 2^nd Place, regardless of Category, $35 to each singer in the Quartet and $140 to the college’s music program.
- 3^rd Place, regardless of Category, $25 to each singer in the Quartet and $100 to the college’s music program.