EA ANNOUNCES BURNOUT BANDSLAM WINNERS
Virgin Records Awards Recording Contracts as Grand Prize to Hottest Bands
CHERTSEY, UK. April 25, 2007 - Electronic Arts Inc., (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced that the search for the hottest new bands in the United States and Europe is complete! Conducted in collaboration with MySpace, Virgin Records and Epiphone, EA's 2nd Burnout Bandslam received entries from over 5,000 bands in the United States and over 2,100 from various countries across Europe.
Following a period of intense public ranking, with around two and a half million MySpace users participating, and final selection by an expert panel, the two grand prize winning bands have been confirmed as "Never Heard Of It" (U.S.) and "Showing Off To Thieves" (UK, Europe).
The winning bands will each receive a demo recording deal in collaboration between Virgin Records and EA and a chance to have their song included in a future Burnout videogame. One Runner-Up band from the U.S. and one Runner-Up band from each of the participating countries across Europe will each receive one Epiphone Les Paul Custom Guitar. The contest entry song tracks from the Grand Prize winners and Runners-Up can be accessed via EA's Burnout Bandslam website or by visiting http://www.myspace.com/burnoutbandslam.
European Winner - Showing Off To Thieves
"Showing Off To Thieves" are exploding onto the UK scene with their debut release 'Everyone has their secrets'. They are driven by powerful vocals, incisive lyrics and crushing rhythms. This is music that soundtracks our lives, cinematic in scope and upheld with raw ambition. With melodies soaring between epic highs and delicate lows, their distinctly British sound has achieved the rare balance of intimacy and power.
http://www.myspace.com/showingofftothieves
U.S. Winner - Never Heard Of It (NHOI)
The buzz surrounding "Never Heard Of It" has been steadily growing throughout the last few years and they are considered one of the hardest working independent bands on tour. Starting in the summer of 2001, they have self-booked and financed 11 U.S. tours and even expanded their schedule to Europe and Japan. They toured non-stop, playing as many shows as possible, and because of their hard work have been asked to play The Warped Tour two years in a row. This hard driven band was determined to get their albums out to the public, so they started their own label called Unmotivated Records, put out a full length CD and got a nationwide distribution deal because of their extensive touring and fantastic tracks. http://www.myspace.com/NHOI ;
The full list of Runners-Up is:
UK- Inuendo
U.S. - The Sun Also Rises
Denmark- Zenith
Sweden- Anagoes
Norway- Jeroan Drive
Ireland- Boss Volenti
Germany- More Than Crossed
Spain- Avenue and Silhouettes
Russia - Apshell
Italy - Let Me In
France - Kiemsa
Holland - Note to Amy
The Burnout videogame series is developed by EA's Criterion Games Studio and is one of the most acclaimed racing videogame franchises of all time. The next iteration of Burnout is currently in development for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system.
For more information about the Burnout franchise videogame series, please visit the EA press web site at http://info.ea.com, the official Burnout videogame homepage at http://burnout.ea.com or Criterion Games at www.criteriongames.com.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for videogame systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS BIGTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2006, EA posted revenue of $2.95 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
Electronic Arts, EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, POGO and Burnout are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Microsoft and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. "PlayStation" and "PLAYSTATION" are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
About Epiphone
Epiphone fretted instruments, amplifiers, strings and accessories are known worldwide for offering the best combination of quality and value. Headquartered in Nashville, Epiphone is part of the Gibson family of brands that includes Dobro, Maestro, Kramer, Valley Arts, Steinberger, Tobias, Echoplex, Electar, Flatiron, Slingerland, Oberheim, Sunshine Piano, Take Anywhere Technology, Baldwin, J&C Fischer, Hamilton, Chickering and Wurlitzer. For more information on Epiphone go to www.epiphone.com
Press contact: Jeremy Singer, UK PR Manager Gibson Guitar and Epiphone,
Jeremy.singer@gibson.com Tel +44 (0)20 7167 2144
About Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a label of the Capitol Music Group, which consists of the Capitol and Virgin label imprints and its roster includes such artists as 30 Seconds to Mars, Lily Allen, The Beatles, Corrine Bailey Rae, Chingy, Coldplay, Decemberists, Gorillaz, Interpol, Lenny Kravitz, OK Go, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, The Rolling Stones, Joss Stone and KT Tunstall.
About MySpace.com
MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., is the premier lifestyle portal for connecting with friends, discovering popular culture, and making a positive impact on the world. By integrating web profiles, video, mobile communications, instant messaging and more, MySpace has created a global connected community with a wide array of communication choices. As the highest ranked website in terms of page views**, MySpace is the most widely-used and highly-regarded site of its kind. MySpace's international network includes localized community sites in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, and Italy.
**Among the top 2000 domains comScore Media Metrix, November 2006. For more information on comScore Networks, please go to http://www.comscore.com.