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O2 Undiscovered Under Fire |
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Wednesday, 22 March 2006 |
 Mobile phone giants 02 and Virgin are at war over their music strategies.
Virgin has been running its Road to V campaign for 3 years, and claims that 02's new initiative 02 Undiscovered is a blatant rip off.
Both campaigns give up and coming artists the opportunity to submit demos for a chance to perform live at their respective festivals.
Virgin Mobile's Road to V gives an unsigned band the chance to open a stage at the V Festival on the weekend of 19th / 20th August. Bands wanting to enter upload their tracks online, and users review and vote for their favourites. From the entries, 14 bands will be then be chosen to compete for their place on the Road to V. These 14 acts will then play gigs at Islington or Liverpool Carling Academy in May which will be filmed for broadcast on Channel 4 in the 10 weeks leading up to V Festival from mid June. The winner performs live at the V Festival.
02 Undiscovered is a very similar proposition, offering unsigned bands the opportunity to submit demos. The winner receives the chance to record and digitally release a track with one of the UK's leading record labels, advice and nurturing from a panel of judges, membership to swanky London club The Hospital and a styling session and £500 worth of new clothes. O2 customers can also sign up for O2 Undiscovered news alerts.
Virgin Mobile sponsorship manager Steve Rogan says:
"We don't have a problem with other networks trying to do stuff in the music space, but I would expect them to be innovative and try to differentiate themselves from their competitors. They've got more money than us and we just think they should make more of an effort."
An O2 spokesperson commented that O2 undiscovered is a much richer proposition' that Road to V:
"It's not just a gigging opportunity for a band - it's a national search to unearth new music talent supported by some of the music industry's leading figures."
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