With live music becoming an increasingly important part of the music business, it only makes sense that the bands and artists competing on OurStage for cash prizes also compete to play live music festivals. One solid festival appearance can potentially lay the groundwork for a band's career, with labels these days looking for bands that can sell out concerts on the road rather in addition to selling CDs at Wal-Mart.
OurStage bands can now compete for stage slots at Bonnaroo, Newport Folk, Bumbershoot, NoisePop, the JVC Jazz Festival in addition to festivals that have already worked with OurStage in the past, including the Noise Pop Festival, which was founded by Kevin Arnold, the same guy who runs the IODA digital distribution network.
For festival organizers, the allure is simple – OurStage gives theman easy way to reflect their audience's taste before it's too late.
"Noise Pop has always been about showcasing and celebrating the bestindependent music, and for Noise Pop 2008, OurStageenabled us to do this in a way that also brings the fans into the mix,"
said Arnold. "Identifyingthe best new bands, with increasing fan following to play our festival,
is always a challenging undertaking. OurStage was the platform thathelped us scale our selection process in a cool, open, democratic way."
(In other festival news, Live Nation recently expanded its growing empire by acquiring two thirds of Dance Factory, a company that puts on festivals abroad including Scotland's "T in the Park.")
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Photo of fan seeking exposure at Bonnaroo 2007: Corey Pud
