EMERGING ACTS could be thrust into the political sphere in the second Rock The House competition to find the best unsigned live talent in the UK.

Launched last year by Hove and Portslade MP Mike Weatherley, the contest urges acts to apply to their parliamentary representative, who will select the best for contests to find artistes in three categories – solo artistes, bands and under-18s.

(see the full story in Issue 144)

Free festival aims to help The Moon shine

CARDIFF’S LATEST live music venue The Moon is making clear its intention to be a launchpad for up-and-coming acts by staging the Free 4 All festival, which will see new artistes play nightly from 6-31 January.

The 150-capacity venue was opened in December above The Full Moon bar in the city’s Womanby Street, which also boasts live music venues Clwb Ifor Bach (cap. 250) and Dempsey’s (150).

(see the full story in Issue 144)

New act will get a taste of honey

NEW ACTS are competing to take the stage at the second Honeyfest (cap, 3,500), to be held at a “secret” location in Wiltshire on 14 April.

The best of the artistes wanting to take part, chosen by a panel of industry professionals, will join in a battle of the bands-style contest on 3 February at the 200-capacity Bouverie Hall in Pewsey.

(see the full story in Issue 144)

University presents course on promoting music business

A SECOND series of courses for aspiring promoters and venue operators will be hosted by the University of Westminster from 27 February to 26 March.

The five seminars, run by the university’s business network Music Tank, will be led by course tutor and co-founder of London’s The Luminaire (cap. 270), which closed last year. Among feature speakers will be Kilimanjaro Live promoter and Sonisphere festival booker Steve Tilley, Music Export Norway’s UK office Jonas Vebner and WeGotTickets founder Dave Newton.

(see the full story in Issue 144)

NXT feature              

Breaking into festivals

Stages dedicated to new and unsigned acts have been a familiar feature at festivals for several years, but the concept is evolving continually and fledgling artistes are now being offered hitherto unprecedented opportunities, as Christopher Barrett reports

Aside from merely getting the chance to play in front of the biggest audience of their careers, artistes competing for a place on an emerging talent stage at a UK festival can now expect anything from a fee to a place on an international event’s bill, or even an approach from a record label.

George Kyle, head of sponsorship at Tennent’s Lager, the founding brand partner of Scotland’s T in the Park (83,000), helped launch the T Break stage at the festival back in 1996.

T Break is dedicated to providing new acts with a platform to reach a bigger audience and has acted as a key stepping stone for artistes such as The View and Biffy Clyro.

The event launches each year with a Call for Demos, where acts can upload three tracks to the T Break website for review. The entrants, all of which must be over 18 years old and Scottish, are then whittled down to a final 16. Winners can expect a fee and other benefits.

“There’s a dedicated T Break media campaign and we work closely with the bands to place interviews and features that further build and enhance their profile and fan base, as well as helping to nurture their own media skills and relationships,” says Kyle.

Simon Hall overseas the unsigned initiatives at heavy metal festival Bloodstock Open Air (cap. 12,000) and says a key element of the festival since day one has been the New Blood Stage, which is dedicated to unsigned and emerging artistes.

Those selected to play the stage also get the opportunity to perform at Germany’s biggest metal festival, Wacken Open Air (75,000), and Metal Camp (15,000) in Slovenia, thanks to Bloodstock’s reciprocal deal with both events.

Bands are chosen via a series of talent search gigs at venues across the UK, Norway, Croatia, Romania and Belgium under the banner Metal 2 The Masses.

“Unsigned acts have always been as important to us as the main stage acts,” says Hall. “Acts like Evile were totally unsigned when we gave them a platform and they have done extremely well for themselves, as have a number of bands we’ve helped over the years.”

(see issue 144 for the full story)