YouTube is giving aspiring bands a shot at fame, courtesy of sponsor Cingular Wireless. In a contest to run from Oct. 2 to 18, unsigned bands can submit videos for original songs to compete in four
prize categories: best song, best music video, best live performance and best creative work. Visitors to the site will then vote for their favorites, and finalists will appear on ABC's "Good Morning
America," and will also have the use of the Gibson Guitar tour bus while in New York. Coming just days after a major licensing and content-sharing deal between YouTube and Warner Bros. Music, the new
contest also appears to represent a challenge to the Web's most popular social network, MySpace, which began as a site where up-and-coming bands could promote themselves, and still has a prominent
musical presence.
