Warner Music & ViacomCBS / MTV International teamed up as Accelerator Champions in 2020 with a project that set out to achieve, along with project Participants, Joi Polloi, Never.no and Grabyo, to transpose the existing, traditional talent show and new music discovery formats into a cutting-edge platform featuring real-time, multi-user UGC interactivity and live broadcasts, all backed with ethical and responsible AI and moderation to protect fans and showcase more music talent and engagement than ever before. Key outcomes included a working beta demo and an open industry-wide ‘Fairness Manifesto’.

Champions: MTV International/ViacomCBS (Project Lead), Warner Music

Participants: Joi Polloi, Never.no, Grabyo

The real challenge was for this Accelerator to ‘reinvent the wheel’ in creating a new and interesting journey for an audience, ultimately with a pay-off that would create opportunities for artists, and all voted for by a real audience community. The proof of concept demonstrated a framework for a first-ever global music talent show via a new digital platform, using cutting-edge UCG audition-functionality, new mechanics for fan interactivity, live ‘pop-up’ broadcasts online (of a linear nature - one-to-many and many-to-many), and backed with cutting-edge AI to ensure and promote ethical moderation, ID/data verification, diversity/inclusion and cyber-security.

This ‘music show format’ will feature fans auditioning with videos via a ground breaking mechanic (potentially AR, or virtual avatars), with the most popular clips going through to a weekly, ‘flash-mob’-style LIVE performance broadcasted as a live TX. 

Why a virtual, interactive talent show?
The music industry, together with the live broadcast sector has a track record of innovation in new talent discovery that goes back decades. The speed of evolution in today’s new digital platforms and formats offers dramatic new potential to push interactivity and excitement to the max, meeting the ever-growing demands of unsigned musicians and artists who want to showcase their talent to the world, compete in an open digital forum, and enjoy the talents of others.

For further information: accelerators@ibc.org