Grammys to feature text voting during telecast

February 7, 2008

Five-time Grammy-nominated rockband Foo Fighters

The Foo Fighters, a five-time Grammy-nominated rock band, are giving fans a chance to vote on which instrumentalist should play along with the group at its Grammy Awards performance.

The contest titled, “My Grammy Moment 2008,” has been narrowed down to three musicians who were selected from YouTube for the chance to play with the rock band.

“The mobile aspect of the Grammys is integrated into the fabric of the show and it’s about reaching viewers during the telecast,” said Rob Kramer, director of sales for media and entertainment at VeriSign Inc., Mountain View, CA.

The text message voting is enabled by VeriSign and allows viewers to vote up to ten times for their favorite finalist.

“We ran the campaign last year and we learned a lot about how you can integrate an interaction into a program,” Mr. Kramer said.

The finalists’ video submissions are available on youtube.com/
mygrammymoment

“Ultimately, the Recording Academy and CBS want to drive ratings and gain advertising,” he said. “And with award show [ratings] on the decline, the mobile aspect helps to appeal to a new and younger audience.”

Fans will be able to vote via text message on the day of the Grammy Awards, Sunday, Feb. 10. They can vote starting 3:01 a.m. ET through the first hour of the live broadcast of the Grammys on CBS at 8:59 p.m. ET.

“We are targeting both current and potentially underserved Grammy consumers,” said Evan Greene, chief marketing officer of Grammy producer Recording Academy, Santa Monica, CA. “Our target demographic is 18-34, and we feel this is a direct way to engage these music enthusiasts.”

Right note
The top three Grammy finalists are violinists Ann Marie Calhoun from Virginia, Brian Fitzgerald from Pennsylvania and cellist Tara Klein from Ohio. They are competing to play in the orchestra for the Foo Fighters’ performance of their single “The Pretender.” Led Zeppelin’s multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones will lead the orchestra.

The finalists’ video submissions are available for viewing at www.youtube.com/mygrammymoment. Fans can also vote here. Or they can text 1 to 81818 for Ms. Calhoun, 2 to the same number for Mr. Fitzgerald and 3 for Ms. Klein.

During the live broadcast viewers will be able to send a text message and the winning musician will be announced live during the telecast and prior to his or her “Grammy Moment” with the Foo Fighters.

“The strategy behind this campaign is to create an interactive opportunity for music fans to participate with ‘Music's Biggest Night,’” Mr. Greene said.  “[We are seeking] to build anticipation for the Grammys by developing a deeper connection with music fans through their wireless devices.”

Mr. Greene said that the Recording Academy is finding ways to overcome the misperception that the Grammys are not cutting edge.

“We want to build towards a robust, compelling mobile Grammy experience and bring more value and engagement to music fans everywhere,” Mr. Greene said.