Radio Free Virgin, a leading digital broadcast company, today launched the Shortlist Channel in cooperation with the Shortlist project, a new award which highlights innovative and adventurous artists rather than established hitmakers. Ten Shortlist finalists including Ryan Adams, Nikka Costa, PJ Harvey and Gorillaz were announced on October 3rd at the Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills, and the winner of the Virgin Megastore Shortlist Prize for Artistic Achievement in Music will be announced in mid-November at an all-star concert and party in Hollywood, CA.
Radio Free Virgin’s Shortlist Channel is comprised of tracks culled from the ten Shortlist albums and the original 49 “Longlist” nominees, showcasing artists on the cutting edge of contemporary music across the genres of hip hop, rock and dance. The “Longlist” was created by an esteemed panel of sixteen “listmakers” including the recording artists Beck, Dave Grohl, Lucinda Williams, Trent Reznor, Mos Def, Macy Gray, and Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson of the Roots, music producers Ross Robinson (At the Drive-In, Slipknot) and Steve Lillywhite (U2, Dave Matthews Band), URB Publisher Ray Roker, and Nic Harcourt, host of the nationally syndicated “Sounds Eclectic” radio program.
“Radio Free Virgin is committed to providing an outlet for cool and alternative programming. It was a great fit to team with the Shortlist and create a channel to raise awareness for great music that listeners won’t easily find on terrestrial stations,” stated Zack Zalon, General Manager of Radio Free Virgin.
“The Shortlist channel features unique and stylistic music selections, featuring up-and-coming cutting edge artists, as selected by music industry insiders,” added Christopher Horvath, Program Director of Radio Free Virgin. “We are excited to be working with the Shortlist to create a radio channel highlighting some of the most compelling music of the past year.”
“From the moment we started the Shortlist project, our goal has been to create concrete opportunities to grow the audience for unique and challenging recording artists,” said Shortlist co-founder Greg Spotts. His partner Tom Sarig added, “We know Radio Free Virgin’s listeners crave new sounds, and we hope they will enjoy a diverse array of Shortlist music presented in a new sequence each day for maximum variety.”
Throughout August 2001, Listmakers made up to five nominations to the “Longlist”. Any album released in the USA after July 2000 was eligible, providing the album had not yet been certified Gold, for sales of over 500,000 copies at the time of its nomination. During the month of September, Listmakers voted for up to ten of their favorite Longlist albums, and the top vote artists became the Shortlist finalists on October 3rd. A complete listing of all nominations is available at www.shortlistofmusic.com.
In addition to the $10,000 cash prize provided to the Shortlist winner by Virgin Megastore, the company will also be making a significant charitable contribution in the winner’s name in honor of the victims of the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington D.C. “Virgin Megastores are renown for our broad range of musical offerings, and have a long history of identifying and supporting adventurous artists. We are thrilled to partner with the Shortlist on such a creative and groundbreaking endeavor,” stated Glen Ward, Virgin Entertainment Group CEO.
