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YouTube's battle of the bands
Video-sharing giant nabs major sponsors for competition to discover the most talented unsigned bands on its site.
YouTube, already home to thousands of videos from bands of all stripes and levels of fame, wants even more.
YouTube Underground
The video-sharing giant said today that it is holding a battle of the bands for the digital age, soliciting bands to upload videos to its new YouTube Underground site for a competition to find the best unsigned musical talent on YouTube.
Bands can submit original videos from October 2 through October 18, and site visitors will vote for their favorites, determining the finalists in four categories: best song, best music video, best live performance, and best creative work. From that list of finalists, Alexandra Patsavas of Chop Shop Music Supervision, whose work on The O.C. and Grey's Anatomy has drawn rave reviews for breaking new bands, will pick the four winners.
Those winners will get a heap of prizes, including trips to New York City and appearances on ABC's Good Morning America, new equipment from Gibson Guitar and Epiphone, a "photo shoot and interview" with an unnamed "top music publication," a feature slot on YouTube, and a chance to have their song appear on a TV show or in a feature film.
"We strive to find unique ways to help our community be recognized, and this promotion is the first of many such online events," YouTube's Julie Supan said in a statement. "Becoming a part of The YouTube Underground will help the independent musicians that broadcast to the YouTube community rise up and be discovered as some of the greatest music talents today."
YouTube has landed Cingular Wireless as its major sponsor for the contest, a major boost for the video-sharing giant, which has been working to find revenue streams as its popularity has skyrocketed. Earlier this week, YouTube said it signed a licensing deal with Warner Music Group, giving it legal access to Warner's video catalog and agreeing to police its own video catalog to take down illegally uploaded Warner Music content.
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