Unless they're the lucky few who land opening spots for major artists, most unsigned bands don't get the chance to play for tens of thousands of music fans.
But that is about to change, thanks to a Dutch music site that's promising to send 10 unsigned bands on a stadium tour of the U.S. next year.
The website
SellaBand gets fans to invest in unsigned groups, and when they reach
$50,000 in funding, they get to record with big-name producers, such as
Tony Platt, who produced
AC/DC's
Back in Black.
Since the venture began a couple of years ago, 27 artists from 12 countries have raised the full $50,000, and over
$2,200,000 has been invested in unsigned artists.
Now the company has partnered with a U.S. stadium management company for a tour called
ArenaFest that's being described as "live social networking", and oddly, promises to combine gaming, dating, sports, modeling contests and live music.
ArenaFest includes 90 different events in 10 cities, and SellaBand will fill the two opening slots with unsigned artists at each stop, for a total of
180 opening spots to be filled.
Opening night is currently scheduled for
June 10, 2009.
The competition runs from
today until February 28, 2009 - and if you'd like to be one of the bands on that tour, you can get all of the info
here.
via
The Guardian
