Next Big Thing? Ask Yahoo! Voters; Launch and Saturn empower music fans to determine 'Who's Next?'

SANTA MONICA, CA. (LAUNCH Press releease/ www.yahoo-inc.com) - LAUNCH, the music destination on Yahoo!, today announced a new opportunity for fans to discover emerging artists with 'Who's Next?', an online showcase where users can vote for their favorite band from a panel of four selected by LAUNCH. 'Who's Next?', which will be sponsored by Saturn for the next twelve months, will promote new music, empower music fans and open the playing field for record labels to promote more artists. 'Who's Next?' is giving the power for fans to help determine the future of pop music.

For the inaugural competition LAUNCH has chosen a diverse mix of talent including: Reprise Records' punk-pop-goth band My Chemical Romance, Hollywood Records' taste of pop-rock with a Southern twist Ingram Hill, Lava's energetic Australian jam-band John Butler Trio, and Vagrant's punk-emo sensation Senses Fail. 'Who's Next?' voting will culminate with the first winner being announced on October 6th.

Each month, LAUNCH will feature four emerging artists or bands. At the end of each month the artist/band with the highest number of votes from consumers will be invited to film an exclusive LIVE performance at the LAUNCH studios in Santa Monica and streaming video of that performance will be featured on the 'Who's Next' page on LAUNCH.
"Who's Next?" is the progression of our commitment to providing users with the premiere online music venue," said Jay Frank, head of Label Relations for LAUNCH. "With 'Who's Next?' not only will users select the band, but they will then have the opportunity to see them perform live. Fans will be a part of the whole process, a rare opportunity in promoting an artist's success."

Saturn is sponsoring LAUNCH's 'Who's Next?' program as part of its strategy to reach new, young buyers through venues related to emerging music and action sports. In the past, Saturn has been seen prominently at events such as the MTV Video Music Awards, X Games and Gravity Games.
"Partnering with LAUNCH is a great way for Saturn to reach out to the youth market and promote products like the ION and VUE," said Sam Mancuso, Saturn's director of marketing. "LAUNCH has a proven track record in bringing the best in emerging music to an audience that we consider very important to the success of the Saturn brand."