GC On-Stagers,
 
Guitar Center is excited to announce that The Last Vegas from Chicago, IL has replaced Something to Burn as one of the final six bands vying for the greatest prize in rock history!
 
SOMETHING TO BURN unfortunately has withdrawn from GC On-Stage and will not be participating in the finals.
 
Don’t miss your chance to see the final six bands perform live for Mötley Crüe at the world famous Whisky A-Go-Go in Hollywood, Ca on November 10th at 7PM! The show is free to the public.
 
Continuing its support of aspiring artists, Guitar Center and the world’s most notorious rock band will provide one up-and-coming band the ultimate, career-altering opportunity—the chance to open on tour for rock icons, Mötley Crüe. The winning band will also receive $25,000 cash, $20,000 in exclusive new gear from Gibson Guitar, management from Tenth St. Entertainment, and a recording deal from Eleven Seven Music, Mötley’s management and record label.
 
Be sure to check out the video of the final six bands here.

SIX BANDS ONE STEP CLOSER TO TAKING STAGE WITH MÖTLEY CRÜE AS GUITAR CENTER ON-STAGE ENTERS FINAL STRETCH

Guitar Center, Mötley Crüe and Panel of Industry Judges Narrows Search For The Next Band To Make Rock History

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA – October 23, 2008 – Guitar Center and Mötley Crüe announced today the six finalists for the Guitar Center On-Stage: Your Chance To Make Rock History.  The final six bands were chosen from a pool of 30 semi-finalists over a period of two days as each semi-finalist performed one song live in front of a panel of industry experts at Guitar Center’s legendary Sunset Boulevard location. The final six bands will continue onto the finals to perform live for Mötley Crüe at the world famous Whisky A Go-Go on November 10^th in Hollywood.

The top six bands were chosen by influential leaders in the music industry, including President of FUSE TV, Eric Sherman; Producer and Front man of Sixx: A.M., James Michael; Music Director of Los Angeles radio station 98.7, Julie Pilat; Chris Nilsson of Tenth St. Entertainment and General Manager of Eleven Seven Music, Frank Woodworth.

Sixx: A.M. front man and producer, James Michael shares, “I was blown away by the talent I saw over the past few days.  Rarely do I get to see so many great bands play one after another.  The “Guitar Center On Stage” program has already proven effective in finding America’s best up and coming rock bands.”

The finalists who are just one step closer to being official rock stars include:
 
·          The Spittin’ Cobras (Seattle, WA)

·          Lorene Drive  (Victorville, CA)
 
·          The Dirty Pearls (New York, NY)
 
·          Waterstreet (Peoria, IL)
 
·          Something To Burn (Los Angeles, CA)
 
·          The Heroine (San Antonio, TX)                                                         

Since launching the search for the next great American rock band in August, Guitar Center and Mötley Crüe have had a staggering 7,930 bands register and close to 175,000 online votes cast at the program’s web site—makerockhistory.com. The site also garnered nearly one million unique visitors since its launch on August 1^st.                                                                                                                                             

Mötley Crüe’s Mick Mars notes, “Our partnership with Guitar Center gives us the opportunity to help an up-and-coming band by giving them every element needed to succeed.  Like Ozzy did for us when he took an unknown band called Mötley Crüe on the road, we too are looking for the next generation’s great rock band.”

Continuing its support of aspiring artists, Guitar Center and the world’s most notorious rock band will provide one up-and-coming band the ultimate, career-altering opportunity—the chance to open on tour for rock icons, Mötley Crüe. The winning band will also receive $25,000 cash, $20,000 in exclusive new gear from Gibson Guitar, management from Tenth St. Entertainment, and a recording deal from Eleven Seven Music, Mötley’s management and record label. 

“Guitar Center On-Stage is our most revolutionary program yet, and we are truly amazed with the quality of talent that will go onto perform for Motley at the finals,” said Norman Hajjar, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer for Guitar Center. “Guitar Center invests millions every year behind programs that are dedicated to helping striving artists realize their musical dreams and this initiative is literally going to make rock history.”
 
The Guitar Center On-Stage finals, which are free to the public, will be held November 10th at the world famous Whisky A-Go-Go at 7 p.m., where each of the bands will perform live for Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil and Mick Mars of Mötley Crüe who will select the top band and winner of Guitar Center On-Stage.
 
Allen Kovac, CEO and Founder of Tenth Street Entertainment and Eleven Seven Music said, "From the performances that we have witnessed over the duration of this initiative, it's apparent that Guitar Center On-Stage is an innovative platform that helps find fresh and groundbreaking new artists, whom would otherwise not have a chance to tour with the likes of Mötley Crüe. The winning band will not only have the chance of a lifetime to open for the notorious rockers, but they will have the support of the record label, management, credibility from Guitar Center and marketing to launch them into the competitive music industry to jump start a long and successful career.”
 
To check out the audio and videos of the final six bands or for more information about the finals at the Whisky A-Go-Go on November 10^th, please go to www.makerockhistory.com.

Guitar Center & Mötley Crüe Offering One Up-and-Coming Band The Ultimate Career-Altering Opportunity – The Chance To Open for One of The World’s Greatest Rock Bands

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA – October 16, 2008 – Continuing its commitment to the support of aspiring artists, Guitar Center and Mötley Crüe announced today the 30 semi-finalists for the Guitar Center On-Stage – Your Chance To Make Rock History.  Guitar Center and the world’s most notorious rock band will provide one up-and-coming band the ultimate, career-altering opportunity - the chance to open on tour for rock icons, Mötley Crüe. Over the past six weeks, bands across the United States were invited to submit their music at www.makerockhistory.com. From thousands of submissions, 30 semi-finalists have been selected to compete for the chance to win a prize package that includes an opening slot on Mötley Crüe’s 2009 U.S. tour (dates to be announced at a later date), $25,000 cash, $20,000 in exclusive new gear from Gibson Guitar, management from Tenth St. Entertainment, and a recording deal from Eleven Seven Music, Mötley’s management and record label.

The top 30 bands were chosen from metrics including top fan votes and also were judged by executives at Eleven Seven Music and Tenth Street Entertainment. The semi-finalists include:
 
  Of Broken (Hampstead, MD)   
Admiral of Black (Lisle, IL)
The Dirty Pearls (New York,NY)                         
The GoStation (Astoria, NY)    
Neverset (Dallas, TX)         
Irrational(Orlando,FL)                                       
The Last Vegas (Chicago, IL) 
The Spittin’ Cobras (Seattle, WA)
The Screens (Minneapolis, MN)                    
The Heroine (San Antonio, TX)
Lorene Drive (Victorville, CA) 
Love Letter Radio(Vista,CA)                              
Love Said No (Bayonne, NJ)   
Akora (East Rutherford, NJ)  
Evil Engine #9 (Salem,IN)                                   
The Faded Spades (Burbank, CA) 
Pretty In Stereo (Fountain Valley, CA)
BreakingVegas(Rydal,GA)          
Five Star Failure (Fernandina Beach, FL)
Cherry S/T (Danvers, MA) 
No JustUs (Taylor,MI)                         
Ones and Zeros (Rocklin, CA) 
Jupiter Crash (Seattle, WA)      
Reckless Sons (New York, NY)     
SilverStone (Rogers, AR) 
Something To Burn (Los Angeles, CA)
Venture (Grandbury,TX)                
Waterstreet (Chicago, IL)  
The Marquette Weekend (Florissant, MO) 
The Binges (Los Angeles, CA)


The regional evaluation events will be held at Guitar Center locations in Los Angeles on October 20th and October 21st. The semi-finalists will be judged by leading influencers in the music industry such as President of FUSE TV, Eric Sherman; Producer and Frontman of Sixx:A.M., James Michael; Music Director of Los Angeles radio station 98.7, Julie Pilat; Chris Nilsson of 10th St. Entertainment and General Manager of Eleven Seven Music, Frank Woodworth.

After narrowing the list to the top six bands at the regional events, Guitar Center will host a final round of evaluation on November 10, 2008 at The World Famous Whisky A-Go-Go, where each of the bands will perform live for members of Mötley Crüe.
 “Guitar Center On-Stage is our most audacious and ambitious program yet. We are offering nothing short of a chance for greatness. A way to step out of the shadows of obscurity and into the light of legends,” said Norman Hajjar, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer for Guitar Center. “Guitar Center invests every year behind programs that are dedicated to helping striving artists realize their musical dreams.”
Allen Kovac, CEO and Founder of Tenth Street Entertainment and Eleven Seven Music said, "This is the first time in the history of the music business that an opportunity of this magnitude has been offered to an unknown band.  In just three short months, the winning band will go from being completely unknown to having a record and management deal, and the opportunity to tour with Mötley Crüe. Aligned with the advertising, brand recognition and credibility Guitar Center is providing, Tenth Street and Eleven Seven are excited to give an up-and-coming rock band the best possible support to jump start a long and successful career." 
Mötley Crüe’s Mick Mars notes, “Our partnership with Guitar Center gives us the opportunity to help an up-and-coming band by giving them every element needed to succeed.  Like Ozzy did for us when he took an unknown band called Mötley Crüe on the road, we too are looking for the next generation’s great rock band.”
 “Gibson Guitar has always supported bands on every level and as a music innovator we work hard to support emerging bands by giving them opportunities for success through our many resources,” said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. “This program will launch the next Mötley Crüe and we are proud to partner with our friends at Guitar Center for such an exciting promotion.”

For more information or to watch the any of the “Top 30 Finalists” audio and video submissions, please go to www.makerockhistory.com
 
About Guitar Center

Guitar Center is the world’s largest retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards, and pro-audio and recording equipment. Our retail store subsidiary presently operates 214 Guitar Center stores across the nation.  We are also the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments in the United States through our wholly owned subsidiary, Musician's Friend, Inc., and its catalog and Web site, www.musiciansfriend.com. In addition our Music & Arts division operates more than 100 stores specializing in band instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors and students. More information on Guitar Center can be found by visiting the Company's Web site at www.guitarcenter.com.
The Guitar Center logo is a registered trademark of Guitar Center, Inc. Other brand or product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
About Mötley Crüe
 
Having survived three decades of decadence and nearly every possible obstacle, including several brought on by themselves, Mötley Crüe now find themselves alive and elevated to rock royalty. The Crüe have returned with the recent release of Saints of Los Angeles, their first CD with the original line-up -- Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil -- in over a decade and the ninth studio album in their career.  The disc debuted at #1 on the Independent Album chart and was the top debut of the week at #4.  Based on the band’s New York Times bestseller, The Dirt, the revealing CD offers tremendous insight into the lives of the rebellious leaders of the “L.A. sleaze rock” movement. The single “Saints of Los Angeles” broke barriers when it was released simultaneously on Rock Band and by traditional means, selling more than five times the number of downloads via the video game as it did on iTunes in its first week of release.  The band is currently on their inaugural Crüe Fest, the top rock festival of the summer. www.motley.com
About Tenth Street Entertainment

Tenth Street Entertainment (www.10thst.com), the leading music management company founded by industry veteran Allen Kovac is a leader in the kind of wide-ranging marketing alliances, branding opportunities, research based promotion and online convergence that marks the future of the entertainment business.  At Tenth Street Entertainment, every release is a convergence of the company’s departments that oversee the music, radio, marketing, press, online media, touring, branding, international, third party licensing and strategic partnerships that inspires each artist’s brand to live long lives in many areas and in unexpected places around the world.  The prestigious artist management roster includes Mötley Crüe, Buckcherry, Debbie Harry and Blondie, Sixx:A.M., Papa Roach, Jet, Drowning Pool, Marion Raven and the Exies.  

 About Eleven Seven Music

Eleven Seven Music is the #1 Independent Active Rock label (according to Mediabase and industry trade Radio & Records) and is among the top five performing rock labels, controlling up to 25 percent of the rock charts since its inception in January 2006. With the recent #1 independent release from Mötley Crüe (the label scored the #2 position last year with Sixx:A.M.’s The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and Buckcherry’s Platinum and Grammy-nominated 15 ), Eleven Seven continues to build on its model of research-based marketing strategies targeted directly to the fans and building out from that base. Helmed by President Nikki Sixx, the label’s roster includes Mötley Crüe, Buckcherry, Sixx:A.M., Trapt, Drowning Pool, The Exies and Marion Raven.  Eleven Seven Music was founded by industry veteran and pioneer Allen Kovac, a revolutionary mind who has been at the center of some of the most creative and successful campaigns in the music business.

About Gibson Guitar
Gibson is known worldwide for producing classic models in every major style of fretted instrument, including acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins and banjos. Gibson's HD.6X-PRO Digital Guitar and the Gibson Robot Guitar represent the biggest advances in electric guitar design in over 70 years. Founded in 1894 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and headquartered in Nashville since 1984, Gibson Guitar Corp.'s family of brands now includes Epiphone, Dobro, Kramer, Steinberger, Tobias, Echoplex, Electar, Flatiron, Slingerland, Valley Arts, Maestro, Oberheim, Sunshine Piano, Take Anywhere Technology, Baldwin, J&C Fischer, Chickering, Hamilton and Wurlitzer. Visit Gibson's website at www.gibson.com or www.gibson.com/press.
About TuneCore

TuneCore (www.tunecore.com) has changed the 100-year-old rules and model of the music business. It is a low, flat fee service that delivers anyone's music to iTunes, eMusic, Amazonmp3 and many other major download sites while taking no rights and no revenue from the sale of the music. Artists are building careers, selling significant volumes of music and generating revenue while keeping their rights utilizing the new model created by TuneCore. TuneCore has delivered the music of Nine Inch Nails, Keith Richards, Bjork, Jay-Z, Public Enemy and thousands of others to the digital download stores.

About FameCast

FameCast (www.famecast.com) is “Where Independent Artists Win.” As the premier online talent competition and community for emerging, entrepreneurial musicians, FameCast shines the spotlight on those who have what it takes, but have lacked the breaks.  The company’s proprietary contest platform, at FameCast.com, provides artists with worldwide exposure to new fans, major cash prizes, and industry opportunities such as performances at Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits Music Festival. Companies also harness FameCast’s contest platform to power branded contests, such as Guitar Center On Stage and the Big State Festival’s “Big State Big Star” competition.









 

GC On-Stagers!

Submissions and voting for GC On-Stage: Mötley Crüe are wrapped. Nearly 8,000 bands registered and the judges are currently evaluating the top bands, as voted by the fans.  The top 30 should be announced early next week.  Stay tuned for more information and good luck to each every band that submitted for their chance to make rock history!

GC On-Stage familia, 

The Crüe sent over their new video for "Mutherf#cker of the Year". Be sure to check it out (below).

Also... Bands, don't forget to sign up for your chance to open for the Crue on tour, score $25,000 cash, new gear from Gibson and a management and label deal.  It's the ultimate career-altering opportunity for ANY band.

Guitar Center and Mötley Crüe announce Guitar Center On-Stage - Your chance to make rock history at a press conference on 7.31.08 in Hollywood, CA at Guitar Center Hollywood.  

RELEASE JULY 31st 3:05 PM EST Guitar Center & Mötley Crüe to Offer One Up-and-Coming Band The Ultimate Career-Altering Opportunity – The Chance To Open for One of World’s Greatest Rock Bands

Westlake Village, CA, July 31, 2008—Continuing its commitment to the support of aspiring artists, Guitar Center and Mötley Crüe announced today the launch of Guitar Center On-Stage – Your Chance To Make Rock History.  Guitar Center On-Stage and the world’s most notorious rock band will provide one up-and-coming band the ultimate, career-altering opportunity - the chance to open on tour for rock icons, Mötley Crüe. Starting today, through September 21 2008, bands across the United States are invited to submit their music at www.makerockhistory.com for a chance to win a prize package that includes an opening slot on Mötley Crüe’s 2009 U.S. tour (dates to be announced at a later date), $25,000 cash, $20,000 in exclusive new gear from Gibson Guitar, management from Tenth St. Entertainment, and a recording deal from Eleven Seven Music, Mötley’s management and record label.Guitar Center has engaged FameCast to power the submission site for “Guitar Center On-Stage,” using FameCast’s proprietary contest management platform to collect and present each band’s submissions and rank them using a variety of metrics such as online fan voting and community engagement. A judging panel including Tenth St. Entertainment and Eleven Seven Records will then review the top bands, selecting 30 bands to advance to regional evaluation events held in mid-October at Guitar Center locations in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. After narrowing the list to the top six bands at the regional events, Guitar Center will host a final round of evaluation on November 12, 2008 at Guitar Center Hollywood, where each of the six bands will perform live for members of Mötley Crüe. One band will be notified via a personal phone call from a member of Mötley Crüe that they have been chosen as the winner and that the grand prize, which will include going on tour with Mötley Crüe, is theirs.

Also on hand at the press announcement at Guitar Center on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood was Chris Taylor Brown, lead vocalist from Trapt who are currently touring on Crüe Fest.  “It is an incredible opportunity to be on the road with one of rock’s greatest bands. Trapt has sold more than two million albums, we have four hit singles, a new album out on Tuesday (August 5th) and it’s still an honor as well as an enormous boost to our audience to be on the bill with Mötley Crüe.”  Guitar Center spends millions every year behind programs that help our customers realize their musical dreams.

 “Guitar Center On-Stage is our most audacious and ambitious program yet. We are offering nothing short of a chance for greatness. A way to step out of the shadows of obscurity and into the light of legends,” said Norman Hajjar, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer for Guitar Center.
Allen Kovac, CEO and Founder of Tenth Street Entertainment and Eleven Seven Music said, "Tenth Street Entertainment has historically achieved success with unique and robust strategic marketing initiatives for its clients.  In just 24 short months, Eleven Seven Music has become the #1 Independent Active Rock record company with five percent of the market share at rock radio.  Aligned with the advertising, brand recognition and credibility Guitar Center is providing, Tenth Street and Eleven Seven are excited to give an up-and-coming rock band the best possible support to jump start a long and successful career in the music and entertainment businesses." 

Mötley Crüe’s Mick Mars notes, “Our partnership with Guitar Center gives us the opportunity to help an up-and-coming band by giving them every element needed to succeed.  Like Ozzy did for us when he took an unknown band called Mötley Crüe on the road, we too are looking for the next generation’s great rock band.”
Press Conference Master of Ceremonies Jim Richards, Program Director of San Diego’s 101 KGB FM says, “Mötley Crüe has remained one of the most relevant bands of their era.  Their single “Saints Of Los Angeles” is currently Top 10 at Active Rock and Top 5 at Mainstream Rock and played alongside bands like Disturbed, Linkin Park and Avenged Sevenfold.  None of their contemporaries have experienced this kind of staying power. This program is a dream come true for any young musician.”
“Gibson Guitar has always supported bands on every level and as a music innovator we work hard to support emerging bands by giving them opportunities for success through our many resources,” said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. “This program will launch the next Mötley Crüe and we are proud to partner with our friends at Guitar Center for such an exciting promotion.”
For additional details, rules, and regulations and to enter for your chance to make rock history please visit: www.MakeRockHistory.com. 
 
 
About Guitar Center

Guitar Center is the world’s largest retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards, and pro-audio and recording equipment. Our retail store subsidiary presently operates 214 Guitar Center stores across the nation.  We are also the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments in the United States through our wholly owned subsidiary, Musician's Friend, Inc., and its catalog and Web site, www.musiciansfriend.com. In addition our Music & Arts division operates more than 100 stores specializing in band instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors and students. More information on Guitar Center can be found by visiting the Company's Web site at www.guitarcenter.com.

The Guitar Center logo is a registered trademark of Guitar Center, Inc. Other brand or product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
About Mötley Crüe
 
Having survived three decades of decadence and nearly every possible obstacle, including several brought on by themselves, Mötley Crüe now find themselves alive and elevated to rock royalty. The Crüe have returned with the recent release of Saints of Los Angeles, their first CD with the original line-up -- Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil -- in over a decade and the ninth studio album in their career.  The disc debuted at #1 on the Independent Album chart and was the top debut of the week at #4.  Based on the band’s New York Times bestseller, The Dirt, the revealing CD offers tremendous insight into the lives of the rebellious leaders of the “L.A. sleaze rock” movement. The single “Saints of Los Angeles” broke barriers when it was released simultaneously on Rock Band and by traditional means, selling more than five times the number of downloads via the video game as it did on iTunes in its first week of release.  The band is currently on their inaugural Crüe Fest, the top rock festival of the summer. www.motley.com

About Tenth Street Entertainment

Tenth Street Entertainment (www.10thst.com), the leading music management company founded by industry veteran Allen Kovac is a leader in the kind of wide-ranging marketing alliances, branding opportunities, research based promotion and online convergence that marks the future of the entertainment business.  At Tenth Street Entertainment, every release is a convergence of the company’s departments that oversee the music, radio, marketing, press, online media, touring, branding, international, third party licensing and strategic partnerships that inspires each artist’s brand to live long lives in many areas and in unexpected places around the world.  The prestigious artist management roster includes Mötley Crüe, Buckcherry, Debbie Harry and Blondie, Sixx:A.M., Papa Roach, Jet, Trapt, Drowning Pool, Marion Raven and the Exies.  


 
About Eleven Seven Music

Eleven Seven Music is the #1 Independent Active Rock label (according to Mediabase and industry trade Radio & Records) and is among the top five performing rock labels, controlling up to 25 percent of the rock charts since its inception in January 2006. With the recent #1 independent release from Mötley Crüe (the label scored the #2 position last year with Sixx:A.M.’s The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and Buckcherry’s Platinum and Grammy-nominated 15 ), Eleven Seven continues to build on its model of research-based marketing strategies targeted directly to the fans and building out from that base. Helmed by President Nikki Sixx, the label’s roster includes Mötley Crüe, Buckcherry, Sixx:A.M., Trapt, Drowning Pool, The Exies and Marion Raven.  Eleven Seven Music was founded by industry veteran and pioneer Allen Kovac, a revolutionary mind who has been at the center of some of the most creative and successful campaigns in the music business.

About Gibson Guitar
Gibson is known worldwide for producing classic models in every major style of fretted instrument, including acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins and banjos. Gibson's HD.6X-PRO Digital Guitar and the Gibson Robot Guitar represent the biggest advances in electric guitar design in over 70 years. Founded in 1894 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and headquartered in Nashville since 1984, Gibson Guitar Corp.'s family of brands now includes Epiphone, Dobro, Kramer, Steinberger, Tobias, Echoplex, Electar, Flatiron, Slingerland, Valley Arts, Maestro, Oberheim, Sunshine Piano, Take Anywhere Technology, Baldwin, J&C Fischer, Chickering, Hamilton and Wurlitzer. Visit Gibson's website at www.gibson.com or www.gibson.com/press.
About Tunecore

TuneCore (www.tunecore.com) has changed the 100-year-old rules and model of the music business. It is a low, flat fee service that delivers anyone's music to iTunes, eMusic, Amazonmp3 and many other major download sites while taking no rights and no revenue from the sale of the music. Artists are building careers, selling significant volumes of music and generating revenue while keeping their rights utilizing the new model created by TuneCore. TuneCore has delivered the music of Nine Inch Nails, Keith Richards, Bjork, Jay-Z, Public Enemy and thousands of others to the digital download stores.

About Famecast

FameCast (www.famecast.com) is “Where Independent Artists Win.” As the premier online talent competition and community for emerging, entrepreneurial musicians, FameCast shines the spotlight on those who have what it takes, but have lacked the breaks.  The company’s proprietary contest platform, at FameCast.com, provides artists with worldwide exposure to new fans, major cash prizes, and industry opportunities such as performances at Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits Music Festival. Companies also harness FameCast’s contest platform to power branded contests, such as Guitar Center On Stage and the Big State Festival’s “Big State Big Star” competition.

FROM BILLBOARD.BIZ, Thursday, July 31

Mötley Crüe is set to launch a talent competition to find the next big thing.

Today the band will hold a press conference in Hollywood to announce a partnership with Guitar Center, the music equipment retailer, to find what it hopes will be the next big rock band. The contest is called "Make Rock History".

The winner of the competition will get an opening slot on Mötley Crüe's 2009 U.S. tour, $25,000 cash, $20,000 in new gear from Gibson, management from 10th St. Entertainment, a recording deal from Eleven Seven Music and tips on how to survive the tumultuous world of rock and roll from Mötley Crüe. Tenth Street Entertainment provides management for Mötley Crüe while Eleven Seven is their label.

"Radio and MTV already have an audience. We don't ask them to begin anything for us because what happens is you're competing with someone to build an audience for your artists as opposed to teaching your artists to build their own audience," said Alan Kovac, founder of both Eleven Seven Music and Tenth Street Entertainment. "Our audience is people who want amplifiers not just turntables. People who are real artists not just a bunch of dancers."

While Guitar Center has previously held competitions to find individual musicians, such as drummers and DJs, it has never been part of a contest to find a complete band.

"It's hard to give a band a record deal, because a record deal doesn't mean anything any more," said Dustin Hinz, manager of event marketing and promotion, of the Westlake Village, California based Guitar Center. "It's [the contest] a great A&R tool to find the next great artist. We're looking for something in the realm of Mötley Crüe that would fit within their tour lineup."

Users will be asked to upload three original songs and one live performance to makerockhistory.com and answer a few questions about themselves. Behind the scenes, tracking software will note which bands are able to get the most fans to visit their pages, vote for them and links to their music. Tenth Street and Eleven Seven Music will then pick 30 bands to go on to 10 regional events with a final six performing before Motley Crue on Nov. 12 with the winner announced soon thereafter.

From USA TODAY, Thursday, July 31

Mötley Crüe is looking for an up-and-coming band to be its opening act in 2009.   The band and Guitar Center are announcing Guitar Center On Stage, a contest in which bands may submit their music at makerockhistory.com for a chance to win a prize package that includes a slot on Mötley's 2009 U.S. tour, $25,000, gear from Gibson Guitar and a recording deal from Eleven Seven Music.  Entries may be made through Sept. 21