trueAnthem contest ends..and the winner is...SHAOLIN TEMPLE OF BOOM!

w00t! WONKA's Battle of the Bands hosted by trueAnthem just wrapped up it's two month run! It's been an incredible competition full of great music and great bands....but only one can be named #1 and that's thanks to you!

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...the legend...the winner of $15,000 and a lot more fans (introduced by the competition's music sharing nature, of course)....congratulations...to......

...SHAOLIN TEMPLE OF BOOM!

Not long ago we had the opportunity to speak with David from SToB, and we're happy to say that we had the chance to speak with him after his win.


Over the two month contest what do you think helped give you that edge above the rest? We know you have a great street team did they do it all?
First and foremost I would like to thank trueAnthem and WONKA for this opportunity. Also I’d like to congratulate all the bands involved in WONKA’s Battle of the Bands - being picked to participate was a win in itself.

I don't think anything in particular gave me an “edge”. In fact, SToB does not currently have management or a label to help spread music like some of the other battling bands.

SToB didn't have a particular advantage other than having the best fans in the world. That’s what makes the difference. They really believe in me and this music and are willing to go the extra mile to help promote it. It wasn't just the street team, regular fans sent and spread SToB in their school and workplace. Also, fans helped share a lot of the music by sharing the player through MySpace bulletins or their personal pages – “Shaolin Temple of BooM's FREE MUSIC through trueAnthem/WONKA.”

Have you ever competed in a competition like this before (specifically as it relates to your music)?
Nothing this scale. When I first started on MySpace in 2005, I was chosen by a panel of A&R and game developer judges for Vivendi/Universal to participate in a contest for music inclusion in the Scarface video game. I made the top 20 out of 40,000 artists/bands!

SToB also went head-to-head with EkoTren (signed by a large label at the time) for artist of the month on a music site last year. They tried for a full month to drive people to vote for them. At the time I was recording, so I couldn't get into promotions as I would've liked until the last week of the voting and we still pulled the win!

What does winning this competition mean to you and what has it done for you?
Winning this competition means a lot to me because of how hard my supporters worked to help SToB win!

I enjoyed participating with trueAnthem because I believe it is a company with vision and innovative ideas about the future of music and its distribution. The widget they created is the most powerful tool on the market right now for sponsors (like WONKA) and advertisers. I can't think of any other widget that allows for video advertisements to be placed anywhere online and be as effective as a television commercial. And using music as its engine, it’s really brilliant and certainly helped increase my fan base and brand awareness in ways not possible before.

What are you taking away from this competition that you didn't expect?
As an artist that is unsigned, I heard how P2P file sharing is actually a positive that it helps get your music out there. However, I think this idea and statement is incomplete.

There is a bond created when an artist gives his/her music directly to the fan for free that can't be created by random P2P file sharing torrents. What I have learned is that giving your music away, in the right way, can be more valuable than actually selling it.

I have also learned how strongly people feel about my music. I was really moved by how much people actually worked for FREE to support me throughout the contest. As an artist it really moved me and motivates me even more to take things to the next level.

What are next steps for you?
World domination. But first some new music, videos, artwork merch, shows and hopefully a new dog! Prefer a husky but we'll see!


Thank you, David, and thank you to all of the wonderful bands and fans that helped make the trueAnthem competition such a success!