Jimmy Kimmel Live has partnered with new digital media company WHOOZNXT.COM to join forces with digital fans globally in an effort to promote their favorite bands into super-stardom. WHOOZNXT.COM, the brain-child of Founder/CEO, Jeffrey B. Yapp, provides a network where, for the first time, digital fans have a direct influence on the success of the bands they favor. Artists who work hard to grow their digital fan base across social networks (Facebook, Twitter) are rewarded with real-world, career-changing opportunities.
Each month, musicians with the most growth in followers, considered the top-ranked artists, are rewarded with opportunities for high quality promotional, career-propelling media exposure, such as performing live on Jimmy Kimmel. These opportunities further enable these artists to continue to exponentially grow their fan base even further. Yapp explains how the data is tracked, "The data is all sourced directly from each of the social platforms. When a band registers, they register all of their social networks, and we track all of the fan data."
Each band that registers is asked to connect their social networks to WHOOZNXT.COM's platform (they do not store anyone's credentials) and with the consent of the artist they are able to track their monthly acquisition of fans across the social networks provided.
Yapp started WHOOZNXT.COM with a vision in mind. “Despite all of the advances in technology, at its heart, the music business hasn’t changed. It’s still fundamentally about the artist, the song and their connection to their fans. WHOOZNXT.COM was launched primarily to give artists opportunities to connect to their fan base in ways they wouldn’t have been able to without the site.” He goes on to further explain, “It’s the opportunity for a band to play Jimmy Kimmel Live in front of a national TV audience and that would never have happened if it wasn’t for WHOOZNXT.COM.”
In celebration of being named as ‘the hottest act’ by WHOOZNXT.COM during this year’s SXSW (South by Southwest Music Festival) , English Metalcore (extreme metal & hardcore punk) band, ASKING ALEXANDRIA, performed live on Jimmy Kimmel Monday, April 11th. With quite the bang, the band made their national TV debut in style. Their rise to success is in large part due to the site.
Per Ash Avildsen and Amanda Fiore, Label Owners/Booking Agents of ASKING ALEXANDRIA, “Their underground fan-base got them to this point, but the catalyst in getting the band on Kimmel was WHOOZNXT.COM spotlighting them at SXSW." As one ring on the ladder of success leads to the next, the band is now set to headline on the main stage on The Warped Tour this summer.
Incredible opportunities offered include the chance to play the Vans Warped Tour, Stubbs at SXSW, House of Blues, or appear on Time Warner Cable. Per Yapp, “Every month we count up the bands fans across all of the social networks and give the opportunity to play amazing gigs to the bands that have grown their fan bases the most. We then reset back to zero and start all over the following month.”
Yapp originally came up with the idea from working at MTV, “I saw how random it was for bands and artists to get exposure. Many times it had very little to do with the band and a lot to do with lots of other random factors.” If he could figure out how to bridge exposure to what music fans were telling him, he would have a big idea. The idea was, for the first time, give value to ‘digital fans’ by giving artists real world opportunities (Live performance, Television, Radio). “We knew that we would be doing something that no one else has been able to do yet.”
Jimmy Kimmel Live and WHOOZNXT.COM partnered to find the hottest act during SXSW. When UK rock group ASKING ALEXANDRIA garnered almost 90,000 new fans across their networks and performed to sold-out shows in the week-long period during SXSW, they knew they had found what they were looking for. The group was then selected to make their national TV debut with a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Per Yapp, when asked how this partnership came to be, “Jimmy Kimmel Live and Scott Igoe (Talent Booker, JKL) have built up an incredible music franchise in late night TV. I draw the analogy to Johnny Carson and Comedy in the 80s. If you wanted to make it in the comedy business you had to appear on Carson. I think Jimmy represents today the same in music. Kimmel has made an incredible commitment to consistently bring his fans the best in music. Additionally, their outdoor stage is the premiere concert venue in the TV business. They have been incredible partners.”
From York, North Yorkshire, England, the band which was founded in 2008, includes Ben Bruce (Lead Guitar), Danny Worsnop (Vocals), Cameron Liddell (Rhythm Guitar), Sam Bettley (Bass Guitar) and James Cassells (Drums).
ASKING ALEXANDRIA recently released their new album Reckless and Relentless on April 5th. It quickly hit #4 on the iTunes charts behind Adele and Britney Spears and is expected to make its mark on the Billboard charts. The group will perform live at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards today, Wednesday, April 20th, and will headline the Vans Warped Tour 2011 this summer.
Jimmy Kimmel Live and WHOOZNXT.COM will continue collaborating to showcase the hottest musicians on WHOOZNXT.COM each month. The artists in conjunction with their fans have the power to choose who will perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
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