MTV UK ANNOUNCES ONLINE SENSATION CONOR MAYNARD...

...AS THE WINNER OF ‘MTV BRAND NEW: FOR 2012

London, Tuesday 31st January 2012 – MTV UK & Ireland – a division of Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN UK) - has announced 19 year old, Brighton singer / songwriter CONOR MAYNARD as the winner of MTV BRAND NEW: FOR 2012 – the network’s annual national search for the very best in new music.

With 45% of the total vote, MTV viewers voted in their thousands via mtv.co.uk/brandnew to crown Conor Maynard as their ultimate champion.
KING CHARLES (Universal) was pipped to the post, followed by LANA DEL REY (Polydor), CLEMENT MARFO AND THE FRONTLINE (Warner) and ANGEL (Island) who made up the top five.
Other nominees in this year’s final ten included CHARLI XCX (ATLANTIC), DELILAH (ATLANTIC), LIANNE LA HAVAS (WARNER), MICHAEL KIWANUKA (POLYDOR) and CONTEXT (UNSIGNED).
As MTV Brand New: For 2012 winner, Maynard will receive ongoing priority endorsement throughout 2012, as well as editorial and promotional support across MTV’s network of UK channels and websites.
Conor Maynard quote: "It's such an amazing feeling winning MTV's Brand New 2012, I can't thank the fans and viewers enough for voting, and MTV for selecting me in the first place! Hope this is the first success of many to come!"

Matt Cook, Director of Talent and Music Programming, MTV UK & Ireland said: “At only 19 years old, Conor not only demonstrates incredible talent, but with 45% of the total vote and the phenomenal recognition he has already garnered on-air and online, it’s clear that he really connects with MTV audiences. Bringing great new music and exciting new artists to our audiences is at the heart of ‘Brand New’ and we look forward to supporting Conor alongside all our other Brand New finalists throughout 2012.”
Since January 9th, MTV UK has collectively received over 150K votes for the ‘Brand New for 2012’ nominees on mtv.co.uk/brandnew, as well as the full backing and support from the finalists’ labels, via the creation of a raft of bespoke video content and rallying their social networks to support them in the vote.
The 2012 campaign also marked the first year an unsigned artist has been awarded a spot in the final 10, with Norwich-born, unsigned rapper Context beating more than 2,500 submissions with over 19.5 unique votes, to go head to head against Maynard and the other 8 signed artists.
Throughout 2012, MTV will continue to provide ongoing priority support for all 10 acts, with extensive on-air promotion and cross platform and editorial support including live performances, dedicated cross-network promotional packages, homepage promotion on www.mtv.co.uk and priority playlist support for each artist throughout 2012. In 2011, Brand New finalists received heavy MTV support including more than 30,000 on-air video plays and heavy coverage across the network’s portfolio of digital platforms.
To showcase the 2012 finalists, MTV UK hosted three sell out ‘Brand New’ live shows at Koko, Camden. On the 1st December 2011, an audience of 1,500 music lovers enjoyed live sets from finalists ANGEL and CLEMENT & THE FRONTLINE, with a headline performance from WRETCH 32. Last week, on the 24th and the 25th January, MTV fans were able to enjoy performances from CHARLI XCX, DELILAH and MICHAEL KIWANUKA, with headline sets from THE MACCABEES and EMELI SANDÉ.

Digital agency 33Seconds were brought on board to oversee the community strategy around the MTV Brand New: For 2012 campaign – with particular focus on the Unsigned element of the competition. As well as overseeing the new Brand New community and supplying innovative rich Twitter commentary to the online audience during the second two Koko shows, 33 Seconds brought in key partners Soundcloud to host the submission platform and Music Metric to collate and measure online buzz around the 10 finalists.

Throughout the campaign, the ‘Brand New: For 2012’ Facebook page received a weekly reach of 250,211 users and 7,894 viral interactions per week.
Highlights from Emeli Sandé’s headline performance will premiere on MTV Music on 4th February at 11pm and on MTV Hits on 18th February at 7pm.
Highlights from The Maccabees’ headline performance will premiere on MTV Music on the 4th February at 11.30pm and on MTV Rocks on 7th February at 9pm.
For further information about MTV Presents: Brand New For 2012, go to mtv.co.uk/brandnew.