Viacom's MTV has signed a marketing deal with music site OurStage to promote up-and-coming performers through the mtvU Six Flags VMA Tour and the network's flagship music event, the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
The companies plan to develop "online integrations" combined with the mass audience of MTV and its related networks MTV2, mtvU and MTV Tr3s. In addition, MTV sees OurStage.com as a tool for sourcing new music for on-air inclusion.
"We are pleased to be partnering with OurStage for our emerging artist-focused efforts online," Dermot McCormack, head of digital media for MTV Networks Music and Logo group, said in a statement. "OurStage offers an extraordinary voting platform for finding the top emerging talent, and they also have an amazing pool of over 90,000 artists from across the country."
OurStage, founded in 2007, claims to have more than 1 million registered users. The site allows users to rank the best new artists on the site using what the company calls a "game-proof judging engine." OurStage's other partners include ABC Radio, Radio One, AOL Music and Bonnaroo.
