Mtv/Vh1/Cmt Debut Artist Opportunities Hub Providing Bands Unmatched Ability To Extend Fan Base And Reach Through Massive Scale Opportunities Including On-Air Music Video Rotation And Live Music Performances

At Launch Opportunities Include Music Video Rotation; Fan Crowd Sourced Opening Act for Hunter Hayes NYC Show and Two Spots to Play Hangout Music Fest in May

MTV/VH1/CMT today announced the launch of an artist opportunities hub on its artist platform (Artists.MTV, Artists.VH1, Artists.CMT), where for the first time artists can opt into a myriad of massive scale opportunities to build fan reach and engagement by having their music showcased across MTV, VH1, CMT, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, VH1 Soul, CMT Pure and Palladia to potentially reach more than 100 million homes, as well as unmatched opportunities from partners.


Beginning today, artists that have claimed or created an account can opt into opportunities that will lead to increased exposure and broader fan reach. Fans will be given optimum power since their active support will ultimately decide which artists’ are selected for each opportunity.


“We’re going back to our roots of connecting artists to fans and empowering them to subsidize, support and help their favorite bands get heard, not just by their friends and peers, but by the entire country,” said Van Toffler, President of Viacom Music Group. “Starting today, artists of all levels and genres will be featured across our television channels, sites, stages, blogs, social channels, concert tours, radio shows, and most importantly, provided a direct link to their fans via artist platform.”
The inaugural opportunities include:


On-Air Music Opportunities:
• Music Video Rotation on MTV, VH1, CMT, MTV2, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, VH1 Soul, and CMT Pure: For the first time ever and completely free, artists will be able to submit music videos for on-air consideration via the platform for potential on-air music video rotation during our 1200 hours of weekly music video programming that reach more than 100 million homes. MTV, VH1 and CMT’s music teams will evaluate videos based on the velocity of fan engagement on each artist’s page. Selected artists will receive an email that their video has been viewed and then notified when and where it will go into video rotation.

Digital Music Opportunities:
• Music Video / Track Spotlight across MTV/VH1/CMT’s Editorial Network, including MTV Buzzworthy, MTV Hive, CMT Edge, and VH1 Tuner: For the first time, artists will be able to submit music videos and tracks to be featured across MTV/Vh1/CMT’s network of music editorial sites, which reach 8M unique visitors monthly


Partner Opportunities:
• Opening Act for Hunter Hayes’ NY show- In a nod of the support that CMT/MTV/VH1 gave him to launch his career, country crossover and Grammy award nominated artist Hunter Hayes (HunterHayes.CMT.com) is going to use the artist platform to crowd source the opening act for his NYC concert in June. Based on fan support (measured through traffic on the page and plays of their videos), the list of potential opening acts will be narrowed down to ten with Hunter then personally selecting the opening act artist.


• Play to thousands of fans at Hangout Festival: One of the quickest ways to build a fan base is to play a music festival. Typically, it can take years to make it to a festival stage. MTV/VH1/CMT are going to put that on hyper fast-forward by partnering with the Hangout Music Fest to give two artists the opportunity to play in front of thousands of potential new fans at the beachside Gulf Shores, Ala. festival. Artists opting into the Hangout Music Fest opportunity will be eligible to play the festival, receive all-access passes, travel, lodging, and recording opportunities on the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. Based on fan support, the list of potential bands will be whittled down to 10 and then open to a fan vote with the two top vote getters earning the spots to play the festival.


Additional opportunities to follow include song submission to be featured in specific MTV/VH1/CMT shows, on Palladia, as well as advertiser sponsored opportunities.


Launched less than one year ago, the platform which consists of three entry points (Artists.MTV, Artists.VH1 and Artists.CMT) has become one of the fastest growing music sites with more than 2 million visitors per month with each fan spending more than four minutes per visit. More than 100 bands claim their page per day on average and have uploaded tens of thousands of content submissions.


In the coming months, MTV/VH1/CMT will introduce a mobile app, an artist commerce tool and more.


Artists.MTV, Artists.VH1 and Artists.CMT are part of Viacom Music and Logo Group’s Connected Content Network that reaches a monthly audience of nearly 50 million visitors.