New York, NY (Top40 Charts / TouchTunes) TouchTunes, the largest in-venue interactive music and entertainment platform, today announced country singer-songwriter Tyler Rich as the winner of its annual Breakout Band contest. The second installment of the TouchTunes Breakout Band contest gave nearly 300 unsigned artists the opportunity to win a live audition with an A&R executive at Warner Bros. Records, $3,000 and a national music promotion on TouchTunes' jukeboxes in 65,000 bars, restaurants and other social hotspots across North America.
Breakout Band is a modern revival of the classic live music competition, using TouchTunes' national network of digital jukeboxes and popular social jukebox mobile app to facilitate a friendly competition among up-and-coming artists. After making it as one of the top 10 finalists, Warner Bros. artists and music industry executives served as judges to help select Breakout Band winner Tyler Rich for his song "California Grown."
"There was a lot of incredible talent this year and we're thrilled for Tyler Rich," said Vicki Saunders, SVP, Marketing and Programming for TouchTunes. "Breakout Band was designed to help unsigned artists leverage TouchTunes' unprecedented reach to promote their music and connect them with leaders in the music industry. The success of this competition is something we're extremely proud of."
Rich is a country singer-songwriter from a small Northern California farming community called Yuba City, and is currently based in Nashville, Tenn. He found his love for country music after his cousin took him to see
George Strait at the age of 8. From George, to Garth, to Brooks & Dunn, Tyler immersed himself into the music. Three months before his 14th birthday, his Grandparents surprised him with a guitar for Christmas, and he never stopped playing.
Over the past several months, Rich has performed alongside some of the industry's top artists including Sam Hunt,
Brett Eldredge, Cole Swindell, Dan + Shay, Jon Pardi,
Canaan Smith and Maddie & Tae, and spent four months on the road opening the 2015-16 "Hell of a Night" tour with
Dustin Lynch and Chris Lane.
"I'm seriously elated. To be selected as the winner of the TouchTunes Breakout Band contest truly blows me away," said Rich. "I want to thank TouchTunes and all of the fans so much for believing in me and giving me a shot at this! I can't wait to see what else 2016 has in store!"
Rich will soon head to Warner
Music Nashville's offices, home to
Blake Shelton, Cole Swindell,
Brett Eldredge, Dan + Shay, and Hunter Hayes, for his audition. Rich's Acoustic EP, "Valerie," was released Aug. 11, 2015. It charted number five on iTunes' Country Album charts, spending three days in the top 10, and number 39 on Top 40 all genres album charts. Fans of Rich will have the opportunity to play "
Valerie" at their favorite TouchTunes venues through the newly updated mobile app, available at the end of April.
To view the official contest details, finalists and winner, visit https://touchtunesbreakoutband.com.
