JIM JAMES TO HEADLINE “MTV/VH1/CMT PRESENT: LIVE IN AUSTIN” ON MARCH 12 AT SXSW
03/01/13
Lineup Includes Guards, Youngblood Hawke, ZZ Ward, Elle King, Ashley Monroe and Striking Matches
New York, March 1, 2013 – MTV, VH1 and CMT announced today that Jim James (JimJames.VH1.com) of My Morning Jacket is set to headline “MTV/VH1/CMT Present: Live in Austin,” at its inaugural artist platform (Artists.MTV, Artists.VH1 and Artists.CMT) SXSW showcase on Tuesday, March 12 at The Control Room in downtown Austin.
"SXSW is a beautiful place of discovery and opportunity for the world of art,” said Jim James. “I’m excited to be part of such an incredible showcase that’s spans so many different types of genres and musical styles...and I'm proud to help bring the mission of this amazing platform to life.”
The lineup for the showcase includes Guards (Guards.MTV.com), Youngblood Hawke (YoungbloodHawke.VH1.com), ZZ Ward (ZZWard.MTV.com), Elle King (ElleKing.VH1.com), Ashley Monroe of Pistol Annies (AshleyMonroe.CMT.com) and Striking Matches (StrikingMatches.CMT.com). Each of these bands has utilized the artist platform as a new front door to have their music showcased across MTV, VH1 and CMT’s multiple channels and screens. MTV/VH1/CMT will be filming select performances and then exclusively premiering the footage along with interviews on each band’s artist page.
Artist platform provides fans a central place to connect with artists they love, while also opening doors to discover new and emerging talent. Fans can access content directly from the artist, as well as music, videos, news, photos, bio and more. Visitors can discover new music through tools like artist ranking lists (based on search) and filter by similar genres, sounds and other categorical sets.
"Last year's SXSW provided the perfect musical landscape for us to announce our digital homestead for artists to use, abuse, cultivate fans, sell merchandise, and pretty much do whatever they want," said Van Toffler, Viacom Music Group President." We're back this year and are well underway in providing musicians with a ton of connections to MTV, VH1, CMT, new fans, old fans and each other through our artist platform. It's just the beginning though to what we believe is a hugely versatile gateway for artists and fans alike and we're more excited about it than ever."
“MTV/VH1/CMT Present: Live in Austin” will take place at 7pm CT on Tuesday, March 12 at The Control Room (606 E 7th St, just east of Red River) in Austin, Texas. The event is free for SXSW badge holders and general audience (18+) admission.
“MTV/VH1/CMT Present: Live in Austin” schedule is as follows:
7pm: Striking Matches
8pm: Ashley Monroe
9pm: Elle King
10pm: ZZ Ward
11pm: Youngblood Hawke
12am: Guards
1:15 am: Jim James
Having just launched the artist platform experience via Artists.MTV in mid-August and then subsequently launched Artists.VH1 and Artists.CMT, MTV/VH1/CMT is already seeing substantial traffic and fan engagement. Nearly 20 thousand artists ranging established major label artists from Rihanna to an emerging artist like BLACKBEAR have already claimed or created their pages. More than 12 million fans have visited the site, with each spending an average of 4.5 minutes. In the coming months, MTV/VH1/CMT will launch a mobile app for iOS and Android smartphones.
MTV/VH1/CMT’s artist platform is powered by Topspin GoDirect which gives tools to artists to claim and customize their own page and have their music showcased in a myriad of ways across multiple channels and sites. Artists can upload music, videos and photographs; sync social accounts to pull in content from across the web. In the coming months, artists will be able to sell music, merchandise, memberships and tickets directly, right on their page. Artists can claim or register their page now at www.artists.mtv.com.
For press credentials to attend the event email Kurt Patat kurt.patat@mtvstaff.com
