Industry news & advice blog

UML is an exciting new talent development project based around student acts. Offering the opportunity to get noticed by industry professionals, artists will also build up their fan base across London.  As the name suggests, aspiring bands from all participating Universities are pitted against each other in a League-style battle of the bands competition, with a variety of opportunities and prizes up for grabs. All bands will be heard by music industry professionals and get their material exposed in various ways. From performing at some of London’s trendiest venues, to the winner recording an EP with a top producer in a fantastic studio, the benefits for all contestants are endless. With some of the biggest bands like Blur, Coldplay and Queen emerging out of Universities and Higher Education institutions, Uni Music League wants to highlight this essential breeding ground for ambitious young artists and nurture the stars of the future. Over the course of the competition, bands will rally the support of their fellow students before gaining attention from wider audiences when competing with bands from other Universities. In this way, Uni Music League aims to stimulate the healthy competition between Universities that already exists in areas such as academia and sport.

 

Metropolis Group will produce an EP for the winning band in their award-winning studios. Metropolis have been responsible for the production of countless major names including: Adele, Amy Winehouse, The Black Eyed Peas, Elton John, Green Day, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Paul Weller, Placebo, Pulp, Queen, Slipknot, Snow Patrol, Stereophonics, Sting, The Clash, The Cure, The Rolling Stones, The Stone Roses, The Verve, The White Stripes and The Who.

 

Other prizes include:

 

•           Full PR campaign by The Playground PR in the lead up to an EP release with a distribution deal

 

•           A support show at KOKO supporting major headline artists

 

•           Photoshoot

 

•           Promo video by up and coming director David Moyasan

 

•           Album artwork designed by top artist

 

•  Other prizes from top musical instrument / equipment manufacturers to be confirmed

 

 

• An MP3 demo must be submitted via their website by November 15th. 

 

• The league only includes bands who perform original material 

 

• At least one of the band members must be enrolled at a Higher Education Institution

 

• The band must have a Facebook band page set up. 

 

Each track is listened to and judged on musicality, songwriting and live potential rather than particular production quality. Industry professionals select 32 bands from the website submissions to enter into live elimination heats. These are judged by public voting. Bands that make it through proceed into the quarter-finals and so on, until a Uni Music League champion is crowned.

 

The competition has already helped pave the way for bands like Miss Terry Blue, Shout Timber, Battle Of You, Wolf Tracks, Ghouls and The Fourfits, who have all gone on to enjoy wide and varying successes, from press and radio attention to shows across the UK.