Brent Lillie's That'sThe Deal has won the 2013 We Are Listening Lyric Writer Awards.

Eachyear, one songwriter is selected by an expert panel of judges, including the likes of Chris Farren and Chris Van Belkom of prominent Nashvillle music publishers Combustion Music Group, for an exclusive co-writing and recording project with some of the industry's most prominent songwriters, producers, mix engineers and session musicians.

The Lyric Writer Award attracted entries from all over the world and has a value of US $9,000.

Brent'swinning lyric prompted this response from Lior Shamir of We Are Listening: "(Brent) has the ability to weave visual detail into a dynamic story within the constraints of song form. I see a picture and feel compelled to sing your message in my head. That's powerful stuff. And very hard to do."

That'sThe Deal has proven to be a consistent winner for Brent. It took top spot in the $5,000 Cash Prize Songwriter contest and reached the finals of the Free International Songwriting Competition and the International Songwriting Competition.

"I think every songwriter likes to have that one song they feel they can throw everything behind," Brent said" I call it a 'key to the door'. From an emotional standpoint, That'sThe Deal meant a lot to me when I first penned it and it invariably gets an emotional response from anyone who reads the lyrics. In the end, it's up to me to get the best value out of this prize, and that's its most appealing aspect."

We Are Listening will hire a professional staff writer to set music to the lyrics and some of Los Angeles' leading session players, producers and audio engineers will provide a mastered demo. We Are Listening will then pitch the completed master to its network of music publishers and supervisors.

Brent's other achievements to date have included a win in the Australian Songwriters' Association Awards, reaching the finals three times in the International Songwriting Competition and a being named runner-up in the USA Songwriting Contest. www.sonicbids.com/brentlillie