Soundtrack the End.
The Playlist Project turns the end of the world into a set of categories you can actually enter, each one built like a playlist for a specific moment, mood, or aftermath. Pick your lane, or twist it into something new, and submit a song that belongs there.
Looking for an update on the Playlist Project Vol. 1?
Check out the semi-finalists here.
What Is It?
– Pick a Category
– Submit Your Original Song
– Compete for Cash and Features on VICE
“You’re telling me I can win cash with my ‘I’m totally fine’ song?”
Cash & Prize Pool
$25,000
Welcome to the Playlist Project, a global showcase for songs that soundtrack the moments that matter most. No formulas. No “right” sound. Just music judged on how hard it hits and how well it captures the feelings that show up when everything is on the line.
Each category maps a moment from the end of the world, from the panic to the last party to whatever comes after. Find yours, and submit something that belongs there.
Winners take home cash, social and editorial features on VICE and Noisey plus bragging rights for making something that cuts through the noise and captures a real moment.
Prizes
Besides the bragging rights of being a Playlist Project winner, here’s what’s on the line:
Grand Prize Winner:
- $10,000 Cash Prize
- Showcase Interview conducted by the VICE team
- Posts on VICE social channels promoting your music
- Shoutout in the VICE newsletter
- Collab Post with your channel, Noisey, and VICE on YouTube
Category Winners:
- $1,500 Cash Prize
- Featured in content published by the VICE team
- Posts on VICE social channels promoting your music
- Shoutout in the VICE newsletter
- Collab post with your channel, Noisey, and VICE on YouTube
CATEGORIES
Category Options
Playlist Project Vol. 2
The Playlist Project Vol. 2 turns the end of the world into a set of categories you can actually enter, each one built like a playlist for a specific moment, mood, or aftermath. Pick your lane, or twist it into something new, and submit a song that belongs there.
noiseyplaylistprojectv2
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Category
1
Pretending To Be Fine
Noisey
2
Running From Robots
Noisey
3
Last Party On Earth
Noisey
4
Raging Riot
Noisey
5
Searching For Someone
Noisey
6
Last Chance (To Save Everyone)
Noisey
7
Mission: Locked In
Noisey
8
Watching Everything Burn
Noisey
9
Leaving Something Behind
Noisey
10
Humanity, A.D. 3026
Noisey
Not Sure Which Category To Enter?
Click Here for Full Category Descriptions & Examples
Want To Read Full Contest Rules?
Click Here for Rules, Terms, & Conditions
FAQs
If you’re still deciding whether to enter, you’re probably wondering how it all works. Here’s everything you need to know before beginning your entry process.
Have an additional question? Reach out to us directly below.
Category Descriptions
Pretending To Be Fine
Pretending To Be Fine is a playlist for blocking out the noise. When the social feeds get too heavy, and the doomscrolling hits too hard, you have to take your mind off things. Pop, rap, dance, anything that makes you feel light on your feet. If the music in your ears is good, can anything in the world really be that bad?
Running From Robots
Running From Robots is defined by panic, urgency, and the instinct to survive. It features fast, driving songs with relentless momentum, often built on pounding rhythms, sharp production, and the feeling that something is closing in. Can your cardio outlast a battery?
Last Party On Earth
Last Party On Earth celebrates the choice to dance anyway, even with the end in sight. It includes euphoric, high-energy songs built for crowds and movement, capturing joy, defiance, and the freedom of having nothing left to lose. If it’s all falling apart, may as well throw one last rager. There’s no job tomorrow, or maybe ever again.
Raging Riot
Raging Riot represents the moment frustration boils over into full-scale uprising. It features loud, aggressive songs with raw energy and confrontational attitude, often driven by heavy instrumentation, chant-ready hooks, and powerful vocal delivery. Everyone is going fully feral, you joining in?
Searching For Someone
Searching For Someone centers on longing, desire, and the need for real connection when everything else feels uncertain. It includes intimate, honest songs that feel confessional or still, often driven by vulnerability, warmth, and the truth of wanting someone. At the end, maybe all we need is a little human connection.
Last Chance (To Save Everyone)
Last Chance (To Save Everyone) captures the moment of courage when everything is on the line. It features big, soaring songs that build toward something greater, carrying hope, sacrifice, and the resolve to keep fighting, often with anthemic choruses and cinematic scale. The theme songs for the final shot.
Mission: Locked In
Mission: Locked In reflects deep focus, flow, and the state of tuning everything else out. It features steady, immersive songs built to keep the mind moving, often instrumental or lightly vocal, with hypnotic rhythms, textured layers, and minimal distraction.
Watching Everything Burn
Watching Everything Burn reflects the stunned stillness that comes after the worst has already happened. It includes songs that feel raw, drained, or quietly reflective, capturing shock, release, and the slow work of coming to terms with reality. It’s over, but there is something beautiful about being there at the end.
Leaving Something Behind
Leaving Something Behind focuses on legacy, gratitude, and what remains when we’re gone. It features earnest, heartfelt songs that feel meaningful and sincere, often written as a goodbye, a tribute, or a message to whoever comes next.
Humanity, A.D. 3026
Humanity, A.D. 3026 is the Playlist Project’s version of an “other” category: an open-ended, forward-looking category for songs that feel weird, otherworldly, or completely out of the box. It welcomes experimental and genre-defying tracks that don’t fit anywhere else. Imagine where music, and people, might go next.
