Companies to Jointly Develop ‘The Next GAC Star’ Winner
(ed. note: This is really interesting not only because it’s two very large and successful companies teaming up, but it goes to show where a lot of the talent that’s being found is being found - reality shows. There’s simply nothing that can beat a built in audience from being on television, good or bad, and it seems more and more this is where the ‘development’ is happening — right before our eyes. Also interested is the sentence highlighted — I’ve tried to tell every aspiring artist to watch what they do, publicly and privately, and at all times, make sure you have complete control over what is seen — that includes anything from MySpace pictures, down to what your friends put out there as well.)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – (July 28, 2008) - Television network Great American Country (GAC) and artist development company Music Nation, partners in The Next GAC Star national country music talent search, today announced a new agreement which extends the relationship between the two companies with a joint investment in the development of The Next GAC Star winner. Already underway, The Next GAC Star offers independent country artists national television exposure and the chance to win a record deal with Music Nation’s development arm/label Original Signal Recordings.
The agreement marks Original Signal’s next step in its new model of artist development and its first move into country music as well as GAC’s foray into artist development, working as a powerful platform for breaking new artists with Original Signal.
The relationship will kick into high gear when the winner of The Next GAC Star is announced during a live televised finale on September 10 on GAC, providing a key, high-profile launch for the winning artist’s career. GAC will continue to directly support the artist through its TV, radio and website media platforms and events.
“Music Nation and Original Signal have built an excellent reputation among unsigned artists for their successful artist development initiatives,” says Ed Hardy, president of GAC. “We felt they were a great partner for GAC as we become more directly involved in this portion of the music business, which is an exciting step and a natural extension for a country music network that is know as ‘the leader in country music entertainment.’”
Original Signal will develop the winner through an artist-friendly joint venture deal via a new Nashville-based label dedicated to country artists. Adopting Original Signal’s focus on developing artists as brands, the Nashville label will cultivate The Next GAC Star winner through digital and traditional marketing, radio promotion, and publicity, in addition to more non-traditional channels. The artist will also benefit from Original Signal’s distribution through Sony/RED. The new Nashville label will begin building its roster outside of The Next GAC Star in the coming months. Original Signal is best known for its work with breakout indie pop songstress Ingrid Michaelson.
“Country music, with its passionate, dedicated fanbase, is an exciting new world for us and we see many opportunities on both the digital and traditional fronts,” said Daniel Klaus, CEO of Music Nation and Original Signal Recordings. “GAC is committed to artists and has a proven track record of breaking young, unknown acts, making GAC the perfect partner for us in this new venture.”
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About Great American Country
Great American Country is the leader in country music entertainment. GAC delivers to viewers the widest variety of country music, its artists and the lifestyles they influence. GAC broadcasts original country music programming, country music performance specials, live concerts, music videos, and is the exclusive television home of the Grand Ole Opry. GAC is available in more than 54 million households and online at http://www.GACTV.com.
About Music Nation
Engineered to navigate the changing landscape of the music business, Music Nation is a next generation music company designed to discover, develop, and build artist brands. The company employs both its expanding online music community, which acts as a digital A&R source, and traditional methods to sign artists to its label Original Signal Recordings. Through custom deals that are equitable, artist-friendly partnerships, the company is able to focus on developing new revenue streams around artists to create career sustainability.
Launched in 2006, the company is the brainchild of Daniel Klaus (CEO), Lucas Mann (Co-founder), Kevin P. Ryan (Chairman), and Peter Read (Managing Director, UK and Europe); their combined expertise crosses the e-commerce, digital media, and music industry divides.
About Original Signal Recordings
Original Signal Recordings merges the services of a traditional record label with a pioneering approach to long-term artist growth. By offering a new breed of equitable, joint venture deals that function on multiple platforms, Original Signal presents a unique value to new and established artists. Embracing technology rather than shying away from it, the company employs new media and other channels to generate sustainability for its artists. Their roster includes Ingrid Michaelson, David Ford, and The Modern Society, among others.
