MTV Announces “Artist To Watch” Music Discovery Campaign
MTV has unveiled a new list that
they call simply “MTV Artist to Watch”, a new artist / music discovery
initiative and campaign that spans across all of MTV’s television channels and web
presences. To kick off the campaign, MTV has revealed its selections for the 13
artists to watch in 2013, as well as a concert in New York. Every two weeks,
MTV will select and then feature a new “Artist to Watch” that spans multiple
genres including pop, EDM, hip hop and rock.
The first batch of artists are
(in alphabetical order): Alt-J, Joey
Bada$$, Becky G, Robert DeLong, Gold Fields, Hunter Hayes, Trinidad James, Macklemore
& Ryan Lewis, Austin Mahone, twenty
I one I pilots, The Weeknd, Jessie Ware and Zedd.
Each artist will be showcased
across MTV’s various television channels (including MTV, MTV2, mtvU, MTV Hits
and MTV Jams), websites (including MTV.com, Artists.MTV, MTV News,MTV Hive)
and social networks (including @MTV, MTV on Facebook, MTV on Instagram, MTV on Tumblr).
MTV will showcase exclusive content across its various channels including live
performances, interviews, video rotation, song placements in shows and more.
Throughout the year, MTV will
partner with each artist to break them to the mainstream audience.
“MTV has an unprecedented
ability to help artists cultivate and grow their fan base,” said Amy Doyle,
head of Music & Talent Strategy for MTV. “With our new Artist to Watch
campaign, we’re taking that mission a step further by creating music’s most
substantial launching pad across our television, digital and social channels.”
To launch the campaign, MTV
will host of an Artist to Watch showcase at New York’s famed Highline Ballroom
on January 16th, 2013, with four of the artists on
the list: Zedd, Jessie Ware, Twenty One Pilots and Robert DeLong, performing.
In addition to this sold out launch event, MTV plans to host additional Artist
To Watch events in New York as well as other cities throughout 2013.
—
Hisham Dahud is a Senior Writer for Hypebot.com. Additionally, he is a lead digital strategist for Fame House and an independent musician. Follow him on Twitter: @HishamDahud
Nice move from MTV. I imagine Echonest is behind this. Some of these artists are already quite popular, selling out shows, such as The Weeknd, Zedd, Alt-J but remembering the “Who the hell is Arcade Fire?” tweets when they won a Grammy, it’s safe to assume the MTV audience probably never heard of these artists either. In any case, it’s great that they are taking the initiative to educate.
What’s MTV?
That’s awesome most definitely I think it’s great when a major network can actually reach out and work with an artist that is really putting their all into what they do individually to get that support is one of the greatest things in the world.
As great this is, they can do more than this.