mtvU will be hosting the “mtvU Woodie Awards” which will debut on Thurs. Nov. 2 in New York City’s Roseland Ballroom. The “Woodies” are the only award show that honors the music voted best by the college audience as they are the entire voice of the show. Among this year’s top nominees are The Fray, Taking Back Sunday, Hellogoodbye and Imogen Heap. Award categories will include “Breaking Woodie” – Best Emerging Artist – and “Streaming Woodie” – Most Downloaded.
“All of our nominees have somehow connected with college students this year,” mtvU Head of Programming Ross Martin said. “This night is essentially the ‘live indie music moment of truth’ for a great number of artsts and groups.”
This year, nearly 50 up-and-coming, influential artists have been nominated. The nominees represent the music that college students have been listening to this past year. It is all about the emerging artists who haven’t quite made it to MTV.
“The ‘Woodies’ are significant for a number of reasons,” Martin said. “They are all about great music and the connection between the emerging artists and the students who believed in them from the beginning. I think that this also rings true to what mtvU is all about and this night really seems to be a celebration of just that.”
For the past three years, college students have helped to establish the “Woodies” as a crystal ball of sorts for the music and artists that are about to break big in the music industry. The show propels college students’ favorite artists to mainstream success. Among that success is record sales, sold out tours and accolades at other awards shows. Some of the most well-known success stories from the past two years of “Woodies” are Death Cab for Cutie, Fall Out Boy, Matisyahu and Motion City Soundtrack.
“There is no question that a number of artists, including The Killers and My Chemical Romance, would point to the ‘Woodies’ for a jumpstart in the incredible past few years they have had in the music industry,” Martin said.
Students completely run the show. They will be working the cameras, coordinating everyone behind the scenes, presenting a number of awards and introducing, as well as honoring, some of their favorite artists. Students have gotten involved in the show this past year through development and production deals, as well as through applications and sweepstakes for student journalists.
mtvU takes pride in the fact that this show is entirely college run and cannot stress enough how important it is for students to vote. College students nationwide are encouraged to log on to mtvU.com and make their voices heard by voting for some of their favorite new artists that they have come to love over the past year. The deadline for voting is Friday Oct. 20.
The show will premiere simultaneously on mtvU, mtvU.com and mtvU mobile, as well as Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition PCs and Media Center Extenders, which includes Xbox 360.
Each week, mtvU will debut new original programming that will feature “Woodie”-nominated artists along with college students petitioning for their favorites acts to win. mtvU will also be showcasing student-produced TV and radio programs from across the country that will feature college students debating over who should win with this year’s “Woodies.”
“These artists know there is nothing more important than fan connection,” Martin said. “College students are the profit of new music and they are the judges of which artists are going to make it big. This is your show.”
