Cumulus Media Names IVØRY BLACK Winner Of First neXt2rock Competition

Varvatos & Borchetta

KANSAS CITY, MO's IVØRY BLACK was named the winner of CUMULUS MEDIA's first NEXT2ROCK 2017 competition — a national and local grassroots search for the nation’s newest rock star. The final competition event featured live performances from the top five national finalists, and a special performance by JOHN VARVATOS RECORDS band BADFLOWER. The competition featured up-and-coming rock talent through this national radio grass-roots talent search and artist development program for rock music, sponsored nationally by TILE, the best-selling BLUETOOTH tracker.

IVØRY BLACK will receive national radio airplay on CUMULUS radio stations, and a recording contract on JOHN VARVATOS RECORDS under the BIG MACHINE LABEL GROUP umbrella.  

The winner was selected by a panel of rock music luminaries and industry professionals, including, BUSH frontman GAVIN ROSSDALE; SEX PISTOLS' guitarist and “JONESY’s Jukebox” host STEVE JONES, BIG MACHINE LABEL GROUP President/CEO SCOTT BORCHETTA; fashion designer and record label head VARVATOS; musician, songwriter and producer DESMOND CHILD; and engineer/mixer CHRIS LORD-ALGE, who will also provide mentorship to the winning band.  

Added CUMULUS EVP/Programming & Content MIKE McVAY, "Radio leads the way when it comes to music discovery. NEXT2ROCK 2017 genuinely discovers new artists, enables all of the contestants to be heard and allows the winners to take advantage of an amazing opportunity to have their music backed by a major label as well as played nationally on the radio. We’re very excited to see what the future holds for IVØRY BLACK.”

"JOHN and I came together with an A&R mission to find a unique artist with a vision, and last night we found that in IVØRY BLACK," said BORCHETTA. "There are artists like IVØRY BLACK that never would have had an opportunity to showcase their talent, and the power of rock radio brought us five great acts, with IVØRY BLACK prevailing."

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