MTS India is all set to rock five cities i.e. Bengaluru, Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai and Pune with MTV Independence Rock, one of India’s biggest and oldest rock music Festival. I-Rock as it is fondly known has a 25 year history, this year the musical festival starts from November 7. The call for entries from budding rock bands across the five zones has been invited by Imran Khan, Bollywood Star and Youth Icon, Amitesh Rao, Director, Brand and Marketing, MTS India, Aditya Swamy, EVP and Business Head, MTV, Ferzad Palia, Business Head, Vh1 and Farhad Wadia, CEO, E18. Speaking about the event, Imran Khan, Bollywood Star and Youth Icon said, “I am excited to be a part of the twenty sixth edition of MTV Independence Rock brought alive by MTS Red Energy. It is a platform which has introduced some of the most famous rock bands to India. I’ve always been a big fan of rock music, and I have great memories of attending I-Rock over the years. I’m hoping to see some great new bands along with old favorites.”
Application received from rock bands across all five zones will be scrutinised by the jury. Each zone will have eight bands competing against each other for a regional winner. The regional rounds would be organised in Hard Rock Cafes across New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru. All five regional winners will then compete at the Grand Finale on November 26 in Mumbai. According to Amitesh Rao, Director of Brand and Media, MTS India, said “Our association with Independence rock is part of MTS Red Energy, which is a platform designed to offer talented and digitally active young people a great way to leverage their online status to get real world benefits. In this case, MTS Red Energy offers talented bands a shot at winning a wildcard entry into the finals of Independence Rock, based on their online activity and engagement with rock music fans.”
MTS as part of its Data Centric; Voice enabled strategy offers as array of voice and data solutions to its customers including youth. This includes smart phones and MBlaze dongles through prepaid and postpaid plans. To further strengthen its engagement with the youth, MTS has rolled out ‘Red Energy’ an innovative Youth Outreach Program.
The program is aimed at engaging change leading youth more meaningfully. In today’s time when ‘Online Social Status’ has truly become social status, the ‘Red Energy’ program allows youth to leverage their online influence to advance their real life status with rewards and recognition
from MTS.
Aditya Swami, EVP and Business Head, MTV, added, “I grew up going to I Rock and now to be a part of it is unbelievable. MTV will now take this iconic property LIVE for the first time and showcase the music not just from Mumbai but from the other 4 cities as well. So a historic property makes history once again”
MTS under its Red Energy program will give bands a shot at winning one wild card entry into the Grand Finale. Bands entering the competition will register at www.mtsredenergy.com, and the band with the most online influence will win the prized wild card. Fans including MTS customers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite band on www.mtsredenergy.com.
The voting for the MTS Wild Card Entry will close on November 21. The Grand Finale will be held on November 26 in Mumbai and will have all the zonal winners competing for the MTV Independence Rock Red Energy Winner presented by MTS. The winner will be awarded a cash prize of Rs.1 lakh. Adding more to the zeal, the winner band will also perform live the subsequent day in Mumbai with all the runner up bands performing in their respective zones at the same time. MTV and Vh1 will air the concert live from Mumbai and performances from regional winners in their respective cities simultaneously.
