MTV competitions target unsigned bands
MTV is expanding its programming geared at promoting little-known and unsigned acts.
The network is rolling out two initiatives, one for rock- and rap-focused MTV2 and another for college music specialist mtvU, that will focus on promising young bands toiling in obscurity.
In the most ambitious initiative, mtvU is teaming with Epic Records on a $1.5 million new-artist discovery contest called “Best Music on Campus.” The winner, to be selected in May 2007, receives a record deal with Epic that promises a minimum of one album, two videos, retail and radio support for the album, marketing, grassroots support, video premieres on mtvU, booking on mtvU events and a “Making Of” series on mtvU.
Competing bands must have at least one member in college. To enter, artists upload their music and videos to an interactive profile on mtvu.com. MtvU will name 50 finalists in April 2007.
Offering label deals via undiscovered-artist contests is nothing new. But a payday on the scale that Epic and MTV are proposing is rare.
The companies are hoping that the financial commitment, coupled with the power of their respective brands, will draw a better-than-average pool of talent to the contest. Online unsigned-band contests are notoriously poor at discovering commercially successful acts.
Epic Records president Charlie Walk says the label is aiming high in the type of band it seeks.
“Looking at MySpace and all of these online spaces, nothing has really broken yet,” Walk says. “We’re going to try to identify the next big artist.”
mtvU general manager Stephen Friedman says the winner will be selected in part based on which act attracts the most views and streams on mtvu.com.
For bands that may not be ready for a major label deal, mtvU is also offering short-term deals with Epitaph Records, Def Jux and Drive Thru under its “Best Music on Campus” banner. Winners receive EP deals ranging in value from $35,000 to
$110,000.
In the second initiative, MTV2 is pushing emerging indie bands through a program called “MTV2 Dew Circuit Breakout.”
The program, which highlights acts whose videos have never before been played on MTV2, pits six up-and-coming acts against each other in a battle of the bands. Three finalists will be featured in a December 9 live special, where an ultimate winner will be unveiled. The week before the special, MTV2 viewers will vote online for their favorite band, “American Idol” style.
“It’s a great springboard,” Drive Thru Records CEO Richard Reines says. Drive Thru has two acts — Halifax and I Am the Avalanche — among the six finalists featured in the show. “For both bands it’s their first opportunity to do anything with MTV,” Reines says.
MTV has run both initiatives in past years, but on a much smaller scale. Previous winners of “Dew Circuit Breakout” include Taking Back Sunday, Yellowcard and Hawthorne Heights.
Reuters/Billboard
