Global Rockstar has been labeled the “worlds largest online music contest”. The online competition is seeking to uncover the next music phenomena. Any musician may submit an original track until September 30th. Organizers state that in 2013, more than 2,400 artists from 73 different countries took part in the Global Rockstar pilot project. Over 3.5 million music fans cast their votes, with Portuguese rock band Kandia emerging as the winner. National winners will be decided by public vote, and will go on to compete for the grand prize of $25,000 in the Global Finals from December. The top three acts will also receive equipment from AKG by Harman with a total value of $10,000.
As part of the project, Global Rockstar also offers financial support by integrating a crowdfunding model. Music fans may vote for their favourite act via social media, using Free Votes, but they are also able to cast extra “ROCK’N VOTES”, which are acquired by making donations. Half of the net proceeds from “ROCK’N VOTES”go directly to the chosen artist, and fans get exclusive rewards in return, such as song downloads or signed T-shirts.
“We set up Global Rockstar because we believe in music. There are so many great unknown artists and songs in the world – especially from countries that you seldom see in the charts. We want to put the spotlight on these musicians. Artists that enter their songs for Global Rockstar can present their music to listeners all over the world. This global exposure is priceless for young bands that want to get their music and their names out there,” explained Christof Straub, CEO and co-founder of Global Rockstar. Supporters of Global Rockstar include numerous international stars including Grammy Award winners Macy Gray and The Commodores or guitar legend Al Di Meola.
During a set of tiered segments finalists will be narrowed down to determine a winner by December 20th, 2014. Expectations are that national winners will be announced as part of a live show on November 4th that will be available via a global webcast.