Format Every other month the Soundtrack Beat Battle selects 14 contestants from across the
United States and internationally to compete live in front of an audience and guest judges. During each monthly event, two randomly selected producers are given an allotted amount of time to go on stage and play two beats at 60 seconds each. Whoever wins proceeds to the next round, and Whoever loses is asked to remain in the audience in case they are picked as the 'wild card'. The 'wild card' contestant is a producer who gets invited back to the stage for a second chance after they lost in their first round. The 1st-place winner and runner-up from each monthly battle are then invited to the Grand Finale Beat Battle in
Nashville, Tennessee.
Venues The events are held in various venues in
Nashville, Tennessee. In 2010 the beat battles were held at
Rocketown. The final event was again at Rocketown on July 24. After the success of the 2010 beat battle, the Soundtrack Beat Battle decided to move to the larger, more upscale venue
Limelight in January 2011.
Judging (center), Marc Byers (right), creator and founder Coko Korinne (top) The events are judged by an industry panel (usually one established producer, one established artist and one music executive) who offer feedback on creativity, difficulty, and arrangement in the form of score sheets. The score sheets are only to grade the producer's individual beats but they may not be the deciding factor of who won the round. The ultimate decision comes from the consensus of the judge's panel. In case of a tie, the judges ask the producers to play one more beat. The judges also make the final decision on who should be picked as the "wild card". At the Grand Finale, the judges decide the overall winner. Since 2010, the judge's panel has consisted of: •
Bryan-Michael Cox •
Boi-1da •
Nitti Beatz •
Kia Shine •
Michael McCary from
Boyz II Men • Young Yonny •
Nipsey Hussle •
Def Jam • Tiffany J •
Universal Music Group •
Warner Music Group •
Atlantic Records •
BET •
Sony • many others Beyond the judges, the events are attended by rappers, singers, writers, producers, dancers, DJ's, and radio stations from across the United States.
Prizes In 2010, the Grand Prize winner was awarded a production kit worth $2500 from Big Fish Audio, a trip to
Los Angeles for a pitch meeting with the VP of
Urban A&R at
Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and a free online music subscription. The first-place winner from each individual monthly battle was awarded a trophy, $500 worth of product from Big Fish Audio and a six-month subscription to MyHitOnline.com. In 2011, the Grand Prize will be a feature in
Electronic Musician, a pitch meeting with Sony/ATV in LA, a production kit worth $2500 from Big Fish Audio, $1000 in cash, and a recording session and music video with
New York City rap artist
MIMS. The song in the music video will then be sold on
iTunes and sent to 50,000 DJs across the United States via Digiwaxx. First place winners for the monthly events included a production kit, trophy and $500.
Sponsors Sponsors for the event in 2010 included MyHitOnline.com, Big Fish Audio, and
Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Big Fish Audio and Sony/ATV continued to sponsor in 2011, along with
Scion,
SAE Institute,
Electronic Musician,
MIMS Open Bars, and DigiWaxx. ==Winners==