Music competition

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A music competition is a public event designed to identify and award outstanding musical ensembles and/or soloists. The European Classical art music idiom has long relied on the institution of music competitions to provide a public forum that identifies the strongest young players and contributes to the establishment of their professional careers (see List of classical music competitions). Popular instrumental ensembles such as brass bands and school bands have also long relied on competitions and festivals to promote their musical genres and recognize high levels of achievement. In recent decades large competitions have also developed in the field of popular music to showcase performances by pop vocalists and rock bands (e.g. "idol contests" and "battle of the bands" events).

The All-Japan Band Association annual contest appears to be the world's largest music competition in terms of the number of active contestants. The music competitions with the largest audiences are widely televised events in the genre of popular music, such as the Eurovision Song Contest and American Idol. The world's largest non-competitive music event is the WOMAD festival in England.