Johnny Shay Wins It’s Your Shot 2019
The winner of Slaight Music’s prestigious songwriting and artist development competition has been crowned. Worth over $100K, the prize includes recording, distribution, radio promo, publicity, and marketing support via 2019 label partner Black Box Music.
By FYI Staff
Slaight Music has announced that Irish-born singer/songwriter Johnny Shay has been crowned the winner of It’s Your Shot 2019, Canada’s premiere songwriting and artist development competition. Shay takes home a grand prize valued at over $100,000, including recording, distribution, radio promotion, publicity, and marketing support via 2019 label partner Black Box Music, along with a professionally produced photo shoot, artist biography and music video. Additionally, he will receive business mentoring, personalized development of his brand, and live performance opportunities in 2020.
In a press release, Shay calls the win "amazing. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to work with Slaight Music and Black Box Music, and am very excited for the future.”
Black Box Music label manager Ian Stanger adds, “We’re very excited to dig in with Johnny and the Slaight team. His voice jumped out to us immediately, and we believe strongly in Johnny’s potential as a songwriter and artist.”
“Canada has such a large pool of great musical talent, and it’s amazing to hear this through the 800+ entries we received this year,” says Ali Slaight, Talent Development Coordinator for Slaight Music. “It’s always a tough choice when we get into the top picks, but we are very excited to be working with the Black Box team on developing and creating opportunities for Johnny Shay’s music to reach a much larger audience.”
“It’s Your Shot 2019” is one of the many initiatives put forth by Slaight Music—a company focused on discovering, developing, inspiring and supporting Canadian recording artists. Past winners of the “It’s Your Shot” competition include: Liz Coyles (2011/Maple Music), Thought Beneath Film (2012/Maple Music), Jillea (2013/Universal Music Canada), Sam Drysdale (2014/Warner Music Canada), Kayla Diamond (2015/Cadence), Notifi (2016/Sony Music Canada), and Moscow Apartment (2018/Hidden Pony Records).
For more information on Slaight Music, please visit:
For more information on It’s Your Shot, please visit:
The Weeknd at Rogers Centre in Toronto on August 8, 2025.Hyghly Alleyne, Courtesy XO Records