Skip to main content

Museum Hours

  • Monday: Closed
  • Tuesday: Closed
  • Wednesday: 10am-6pm
  • Thursday: 10am-6pm
  • Friday: 10am-6pm
  • Saturday: 10am-8pm
  • Sunday: 10am-6pm

We are closed on New Years Day, Memorial Day, Easter Sunday, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve

Plan Your Visit
Contact Us

Motown Museum is the beating heart of the extraordinary Motown legacy—a destination that brings together people and ideas from different generations, and celebrates the past while simultaneously building a bridge to the future.

About Motown Museum

To ensure our vast collection maintains public visibility, and to keep things fresh for our guests, Motown Museum changes its main gallery exhibit 1-2 times per year. Here is what’s currently showing at our museum.

Current Exhibit

Motown Museum transports you into an era of musical magic. From the moment you step on the plaza, you’ll be immersed in the Motown sound and will experience a profound sense of history.

Book A Tour

Hitsville NEXT Programs

Our uniquely curated community programs emphasize education, entrepreneurship and equity—with experiences, mentoring and exposure that nurtures and elevates tomorrow’s history makers. Museum programs cultivate creativity and entrepreneurship in budding talent, allowing great art, big ideas and innovation to flourish.

View All Programs
registration Closed

MOTOWN MIC: The Spoken Word Competition


Ages 16+ | Open Auditions

Motown Mic: The Spoken Word was created to pay homage to Motown Records’ Black Forum Label— a Motown spoken word label created by Berry Gordy and the Motown Corporation in the ‘70s....

Learn More
Ignite Summer Camp
application Closed

Ignite Summer Camp


9 - 12 Grade | July 11 - 21

Ignite offers a day program for high-school-age singers and songwriters to engage deeply in artistic visioning, collaborative performance, group lessons, and workshops focused on artist development....

Learn More
application Closed

Spark Summer Camp


6 – 8 Grade | August 1 - 11

Spark is a day camp that provides middle-school-aged participants the opportunity to write and perform music together, explore career opportunities in the music industry, dig into the legacy of Motown, and foster creativity and artistry....

Learn More

Events

From memorable galas and concert performances, to community celebrations and educational programs, we host a range of special events throughout the year.

Calendar of Events
Hitsville NEXT Events

Motown MIC: The Spoken Word Competition


September 22, 2023

The Cube, Detroit

Learn More

AMPLIFY: the Sound of Detroit Finale


March 15, 2023

Gem Theatre Detroit

Learn More

Private Events

Interested in hosting your own event at Motown?

Facility Rental

Motown Legacy

As an irresistible force of social and cultural change, the legendary Motown portfolio made its mark not just on the music industry, but society at large, with a signature Motown Sound that has become one of the most significant musical accomplishments and stunning success stories of the 20th century.

Discover The Legacy

Like many other African Americans in the early 20th century, Berry Gordy, Sr. and his wife, Bertha Fuller Gordy, came North from Georgia to find a better life for themselves and their family.

Gordy Family

Motown is an extended family of some of the most iconic and influential artists, musicians and songwriters of our time. Brought together by destiny through their love for making music, they found themselves making history.

Motown Artists

The culmination of years of planning, hard work and generous contributions from dedicated donors, the highly anticipated, $50 million Motown Museum expansion project will grow the museum campus to a 50,000-square-foot world-class entertainment and education tourist destination.

Expansion

Support Motown Museum

When you contribute to the Motown Museum, you become part of a rich musical and cultural legacy. We are a 501(c)(3) not for profit, tax-exempt organization in Detroit.

Support Motown
Museum Donors

Monetary Support

Make a Donation

Donate

Annual Subscriber

Become a Member

Become a Member

Motown Museum

Expansion Campaign

Expansion

Museum Hours

  • Monday: Closed
  • Tuesday: Closed
  • Wednesday: 10am-6pm
  • Thursday: 10am-6pm
  • Friday: 10am-6pm
  • Saturday: 10am-8pm
  • Sunday: 10am-6pm
Contact Us

Motown Museum transports you into an era of musical magic! Book a Tour

application Closed

Amplify: The Sound of Detroit

Ages 16+ | November 2022 - March 2023

Program Dates

November 2022 - March 2023

Applications Open

June 13 2022

Application Deadline

September 5th 2022 at 9 PM EST

Performance Date

March 2023

Age Range

16+

Location

Detroit, MI

Program Details

Amplify: The Sound of Detroit seeks to build on the rich legacy of Classic Motown by celebrating the unique voices of Detroit and the creative synergy of artists past and present in order to curate authentic experiences for artists to grow and connect.   

 AMPLIFY invites aspiring Detroit talent to take part in three months of artist development comprised of master classes with Motown Record Label executives, vocal coaching, professional styling, and rehearsals with our Music Director. All of this to perform on stage and compete for the chance to be awarded Amplify Artist of the Year, $5,000 cash, performance opportunities, studio time in our recording studio, a national media tour, professional coaching, and more. 

The Amplify Grand Finale event is an open-to-the-public, family-oriented event celebrates the unique voices of Detroit and the creative synergy of artists past, present, and emerging.  


How to Apply

Application Deadline: September 5, 2022

  • Complete the online application form
  • Upload (2) audition videos. Perform the songs in their entirety
    A cover of a Classic Motown song 
    A second song that represents your artistry (range, genre, voice style) 
  • Submit non-refundable application fee of $30.
    Application fee waivers are available.

Eligibility

  • Contestants must be residents of SE Michigan 
  • Contestants must either be solo acts or a group of 2-5 singers 
  • Contestants must be 16 years or older. Artists under 18 must submit a performance release for minors signed by a parent/legal guardian. 
  • Should a contestant be selected as a semifinalist, they must be present in Detroit, MI for the taping and artist development sessions 

The following persons are ineligible to apply

  • Employees of Motown Museum
  • Immediate family of anyone on the judges’ panel
  • Any artist(s) who are currently signed to a major label

Prizes

The Grand Prize-Winning Act will receive:

  • The title of 2023 Motown AMPLIFY the Sound of Detroit Artist of the Year
  • $5,000 Cash Prize
  • Two (2) hour mentorship session with world-renowned Musical Director, Kern Brantley
  • Opportunity to engage with Music Industry Professionals from Detroit and Los Angeles
  • Record your single in Hitsville NEXT Recording Studio (up to 8 Hours) 
  • Be featured in a nationally released Press Release for the Grand Finale, and be taken on a Media Tour in order to promote your single, as well as continued promotion of the winners’ achievements through our social channels, website and e-Newsletter
  • Your finale performance featured on our website and YouTube Channel
  • Opportunity to perform at various events throughout the year for Hitsville NEXT and its affiliates

The Second Place Act will receive:

  • $2,500 cash prize
  • Opportunity to record in the Hitsville NEXT Recording Studio
  • Be featured in a nationally released Press Release for the Grand Finale, and be mentioned on Motown Museum’s website and social media channels
  • Opportunity to perform at various events throughout the year for Hitsville NEXT and its affiliates.

The Third Place Act will receive:

  • $1,500 cash prize
  • Opportunity to record in the Hitsville NEXT Recording Studio
  • Be featured in a nationally released Press Release for the Grand Finale, and be mentioned on Motown Museum’s website and social media channels
  • Opportunity to perform at various events throughout the year for Hitsville NEXT and its affiliates.

This event is proudly supported by

PepsiChaseNational Endowment of the ArtsMonat GratitudeHuntington BankTHE ELAINE STERN FOUNDATION


FAQs

I’m having issues uploading my application, what should I do?

Should you have any issues submitting your application, please click here.

 

Do I qualify to have the application fee waived?

Application fee waivers are available for applicants that qualify. You qualify for a fee waiver if:

18 and under:

  • College Board SAT or ACT fee waiver documentation. For more information on the College Board fee waiver process, please visit their website.
  • Federal Free or Reduced Price Lunch program (FRPL) documentation.
  • Documentation showing that the school has waived the common applicant fee

19 and older:

  • Most Recent FAFSA Student Aid Report (SAR). Must be within 2 years of fee waiver request to be eligible.
  • Unemployment Benefits Statement from the past 90 days.
  • Documentation showing that the school has waived the common applicant fee

If you qualify, to apply for a fee waiver please click here.

Join Our Newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.