Diesel gives unsigned acts a chance at stardom.
The Diesel-U-Music competition can’t claim a snarky British judge who publicly crushes the spirits of its contestants, but the indie artists it attracts do have the edgy authenticity to which prime-time pop rockers only aspire.
The clothing company launched its Diesel-U-Music contest in Britain in 2001, just as “Pop Idol” and its American offshoot were beginning to turn the tables on the music business by emphasizing the manufacture and marketing of an act over the discovery of new talent.
“All the small music labels that survived by being feeder labels to the majors saw that they were being cut out,” says Diesel spokesman Dan Barton, adding that major record labels cut investments in their scouting efforts and shifted that money to marketing. “As a big company, we saw an opportunity to help by putting these small organizations together. The aim of the competition wasn’t to produce a prize, but to create support.”
That support, which Diesel also offers to young artists, designers and filmmakers with other awards, has been a boon to music winners. We Are Scientists, one of last year’s rock awardees, released their first major-label album, “With Love and Squalor,” in January 2006 on Virgin Records. Other past winners include The Pistolas, The Infadels, DJ Skully and Tom Vek. But even bands who didn’t make the final cut, such as The Bravery, have earned broader recognition.
Now in its sixth year, Diesel-U-Music has combined several regional contests in Japan, Italy, Belgium and elsewhere into a global effort that harnesses the power of the Internet to bring “unsigned, unsung, unseen and underground” musicians into the limelight. Hopefuls began uploading music, photos and biographies to the Diesel-U-Music Web site on May 1. Sony Media Software and Billboard jumped on as co-sponsors of the event, promising entrants greater exposure to the music industry’s decision-makers.
Within three days of the site going live, more than 350 songs were submitted from artists in the United States, Britain, Portugal, Slovakia, Mexico and Russia. In two weeks the number of uploaded songs had ballooned to more than 1,000, and by the close of the eight-week submission period, judges were faced with 3,399 artists and 7,497 tracks to choose from. “This is by far the biggest [competition yet],” says Barton.
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Submissions were classified as either rock, urban/hip-hop or electronic and then further classified by six geographic locations—Belgium, Japan, Italy, the U.K., the U.S. and “Around the World.” A panel of judges in each region pared the submissions down to their top three picks in each genre, resulting in an international short list of 54 entries. This year’s Stateside panel included DJ AM, producer Butch Walker and Todd Moskowitz, head of independent labels at Warner Records. The judges gathered again to pick a winning act in each of the categories in each region to determine the 18 finalists who will travel to London for the Diesel-U-Music awards show in October.
The public will have a say in this year’s competition as well. Voters have until Sept. 17 to nominate their favorite artist for the Public award, which will also be handed out at the London ceremony.
Barton believes the biggest challenge facing this year’s judges will be the range of music styles, particularly when it comes to the differences between Japanese and American music. As to why Diesel is putting its marketing might behind the world’s unknowns and unprovens, Barton says it comes down to authenticity—for the brand and the bands it discovers.
“We’re proud of the fact that we’re not putting all our money into artists that don’t need our support. We’re proud that we’re investing in those that need it.”