We all know I love finding an unsigned artist, and something for all you unsigned artists following me, which I know you’re going to LOVE. The Isle Of Wight Festival has recently announced a ‘New Blood’ competition, in a pledge to support emerging talent in celebration of this years 50th-anniversary festival.
The competition is in partnership with Hot Vox and ReverbNation, all semi-finalists will win a three-month free membership to ReverbNation, and the winner will win a money cannot buy prize, a lot on this year’s line-up joining The Killers, Kasabian, Depeche Mode and Liam Gallager.
Now, I know you’re probably sitting there thinking, how do I enter? Well, it is pretty simple to enter, and the process after you have entered is just as simple! The competition is open to artists and bands throughout the UK, all they have to do is submit one original song that best represents them using this link: https://docs.google.com. Once all the submissions have been looked over, only the most talented will go through to the Live Rounds where artists will be judged by music industry experts based on their musicianship, songwriting and fan engagement. Those lucky enough to make it through the quarter and semi-finals will then perform in one big Grand Final on 27th May at O2 Academy, Islington, in front of special guest judges who will then pick their overall favourite act. The competition also has an online voting element, where acts simply need to encourage their fans to vote for them using their online artist profile at www.hotvox.co.uk/artists. The artist with the most votes will then be fast-tracked straight through to the Grand Final.

John Gidding, the festival organiser, said that “there are so many great unsigned artists out there, so this is all about discovering them” he then went on to say that “every band in the country should be putting themselves forward for this!” I know a lot of talented unsigned artists follow me, and every single one of them should certainly be registering for this competition. It is so important that unsigned artists grab every incredible opportunity, so if you are an unsigned artist, or you know of one, please do make sure to tell them about this amazing opportunity so they can register!
Not an unsigned artist? But still, want to attend? The Isle Of Wight Festival will be taking place on 21st-24th June and tickets are still available at www.isleofwightfestival.com