January 18, 2013 16:38

Hard Rock International offers new bands chance to tour world

Record deal, tour opportunity and musical equipment all offered in international competition

Bands wanting to win the opportunity to go on a world tour and record their own album have until the end of this week to enter Hard Rock International's competition.

The competition, which closes on Monday (January 21), offers bands who enter the chance to take part in a World Tour at Hard Rock Cafe locations, film a music video, record an album with Hard Rock Records and receive the equivalent of £6,000 in musical equipment. Entry is open to bands via any of the 96 participating Hard Rock Cafe Facebook pages, including branches in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. Fans will decide which bands progress by being able to download tracks from the participating acts and voting for the ones they like best. For full rules and a list of participating locations, visit www.hardrock.com

"Hard Rock is eager to uncover another pool of budding talent and provide them with an international stage to showcase their talents," said John Kirkpatrick, Head of Music & Artist Relations, Hard Rock International. "More than 12,000 bands entered Hard Rock Rising and nearly one million votes were cast by fans around the globe in 2012 – we hope the continued success of this programme will catapult an emerging band to success and introduce their sound to Hard Rock’s worldwide audience."

After fans choose the successful acts, participating Hard Rock Cafe locations around the world will host a series of live competitions featuring the bands. One winner will be selected from each location by a panel of local industry judges. Selected local winners will then be narrowed down to the top 25 bands worldwide via a second round of fan voting on participating Hard Rock Facebook pages. Once the top 25 are determined, a panel of music industry professionals; including Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band, Live Nation Senior Vice President of Music Toby Leighton-Pope, and Hard Rock Records’ Artist Relations Executives John Kirkpatrick, James Buell and Blake Smith; will select the grand prize winner and two runner up bands.

The Grand Prize winner will then play a World Tour in cities including Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, Chicago and Honolulu, arranged by Hard Rock International; record an album with Hard Rock Records; shoot a music video; and receive new music equipment andgear valued at £6000. Two runner-up bands will each receive the new music equipment and gear.

The Hard Rock International competition was won in 2012 by Hey Monea! from Canada.

The world's greatest music magazine is now available as a digital edition! For exclusive content you won't find on NME.COM, download here on your iPad/iPhone and here on your Kindle Fire or Nook.

Share on Facebook