A Southampton recording studio is offering artists from across the city the chance to record on a vinyl album as part of an exciting competition.

Hightown Studios- a new recording studio created by SoCo Music Project, have launched their all new vinyl project, 'Southampton Sampler ’17.

This is an exciting collaboration project, hauling musicians, visual artists and poets together to create a bespoke piece of art that celebrates Southampton’s creative scene.

Alex Dance of Hightown Studios said the project “aims to inspire and celebrate the huge swathes of talent within this city of ours. A lot of exciting projects are happening in Southampton at the moment and we want to be part of this positive movement."

All bands or artists, of any genre, have to do is email their best track to performers@socomusicproject.org.uk and wait for a response. The submission deadline is January 30.

The end product will form a ten track vinyl record, complete with local poetry on the insert and illustrations covering the gatefold sleeves.

Musicians are encouraged to send in their best original track. In turn, this track will be shortlisted and then judged by the independent panel they have created.

The panel - elected to judge the tracks in order to avoid bias from Hightown Studios - comprises locally renowned members of the music community, including Rob da Bank, Emma from Band of Skulls, Dan Mar-Molinero and BBC introducing.

Ten participants will be chosen by the panel and will have the chance to record their track at Hightown Studios to then be printed onto vinyl in the spring.

Southampton's visual artists are offered the chance to help design the artwork for the vinyl gatefold. This is a collaborative ensemble of artwork of which 15 -20 pieces will make the cut. Collating the artwork together will be Chris Brigg, industry professional and Lecturer in Graphic Design at Southampton Solent University. Chris has created over 400 albums with the likes of The Pixies' notorious album, Pleasures. Chris will be accompanied by the students of Southampton Solent School of Art Design and Fashion to complete this effort. Artists are asked to email performers@socomusicproject.org.uk with either a photo or digital copy of their album artwork. Artwork should reflect Southampton's music scene. For more information, please visit www.hightownstudios.org.uk .

An exhibition will be held in February to showcase the art produced by participants. This exhibition will take place in one of Southampton's hidden treasures and the location will be announced in 2017, the year of the sampler.'