As Americans celebrate the nation’s independence on July 4, MTV will also honor its own origins as a station that started out focusing primarily on music.

Hearkening back to the days before “Jersey Shore,” “Teen Mom” and “Awkward,” MTV is joining forces with VH1 and CMT for “Music Independence Day,” which aims to draw attention to emerging musical artists.

The artists will also be able to sell their music to fans. And those will be able to leave tips for the artists. (Hopefully, the tips won’t be along the lines of, “Don’t quit your day jobs.”)

“We want to let fans discover and really love up musicians, give a tip, buy them a beer or simply send a message of support,” Viacom Music Group president Van Toffler said. “We have a history of introducing new artists, celebrating our audiences’ favorite established superstars and providing a forum for all to reveal their influences and the stories behind their music … So we’re going to celebrate the music, let musicians get heard, promoted, and loved. That ain’t all bad.” Read more..

Buzz Track: Ashes of My Paradise

Electro-pop singer Kelly Sweet who we featured last year as an emerging artist is still creating a buzz since MTV “The Hive” premiered her video Ashes of My Paradise. She has received coverage in Seventeen Magazine and Elle. She falls between Ellie Goulding and Florence and The Machine. She is performing at Club Moscow in Hollywood on June 19th.
Contact: mikesavage123@gmail.com

Buzz Track: Way Back

News Update: Kings favorite Chicago based Super Happy Fun Club new record “All Funned Up” was released on iTunes debuting at #82 on the Top 100 Rock Charts. They have UK dates lined up in the fall. Also check out our other favorite track My Life’s A Mess.
Contact: stubhy@me.com

Buzz Track: Old Wine In A New Bottle

Nashville based duo, One Arm Train (comprised of of young singer/songwriters Grant Vogelfanger and Witt McKay) have been singing and writing songs together since they were ten years old. The duo recently relocated from Memphis to Nashville, TN and continue to work with some of the biggest names in the business having already collaborated with the likes of writers/producers like Richard Marx, Mike Busbee, Nathan Chapman, and Ashley Gorley just to name a few . The duo’s self titled EP produced by their long time producer Trey Bruce (Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill) was released in February of this year and has charted on the iTunes Top 100 Country albums reaching #78 as an unsigned artist which makes them an artist to watch.
Contact: johndwarren1@gmail.com

Buzz Track: The Way We Are

Kate Boy is comprised of Australian singer-songwriter Kate Akhurst (vocals) as well as Swedish musicians. The video for “Northern Lights” has received over a half million views and the video for
“In Your Eyes” has climbed to almost 200,000 streams. This will be their first North American tour, set dates at Brooklyn Bowl in NYC, Santos Party House in NYC, Schuba’s Tavern in Chicago, The Echo in LA, and Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco. You can check them out on June 11th at the The Echo in Los Angeles.
Contact: alex@iamsoundrecords.com