Z100 and Eventful Announce "Z100's Hometown Hero Competition Presented by State Farm®"

NEW YORK and SAN DIEGO, Oct. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The world famous Z100, New York's Hit Music Station, and Eventful, the leading digital service connecting consumers with live entertainment and local events, today announced the launch of the second annual Z100's Hometown Hero competition presented by State Farm.  Music artists will opt-in and compete via Eventful's unique "Demand it!" ® service, which empowers fans to Demand they win a spot to play live on stage at Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge at Hammerstein Ballroom, the pre-event to the legendary, annual holiday concert, Z100's Jingle Ball 2011, held at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 9, 2011.  The winning artist will also shoot an official Z100 music video, which will be available on Z100.com and Z100's Facebook page.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111014/NY86512LOGO )

Music fans can vote for their favorite band when they "Demand it!" via Eventful's unique social media platform by logging on to http://eventful.com/Z100.  They can also spread the word virally through Facebook and Twitter by inviting their friends to Demand their favorite band as well.  The Top 25 artists with the most demands will move to the semi-finals and narrowed down to the final five by an A-List panel of music industry judges that include musician Gabe Saporta – Lead Singer, Cobra Starship, reps from Z100 including Tom Poleman – President, National Programming Platforms, Clear Channel Radio, Sharon Dastur – Program Director, Z100 NY, Darren Pfeffer – Director of Marketing , Clear Channel Radio NY, Zena Burns – Online Program Director, Clear Channel Radio NY, Monte Lipman – President & CEO, Universal Republic Records and Joe Riccitelli – Executive Vice President of Promotion, RCA Records.  Fans will then choose the winner by voting on the five finalists.

Unsigned artists and bands from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have until November 3, at 12 p.m. ET to log on to http://eventful.com/hometownhero to register for free.  Z100's Hometown Hero will be announced live on December 5, at 7 p.m. ET by Mo' Bounce on Z100 and will join an exclusive list of artists who have performed at Z100's All Access Lounge including Justin Bieber, Travie McCoy and Lady Gaga.

"Z100 has a long history of breaking new artists.  It wasn't too long ago that artists like Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber were performing at Z100's All Access Lounge," said Darren Pfeffer, Director of Marketing for Clear Channel Radio.  "Z100's Hometown Hero gives our community a say in who gets to take the stage at this star-making event."

"We're excited to once again be able to use our 'Demand it!' service to help Z100 and State Farm find their Hometown Hero and introduce a great new artist to radio listeners," said Eventful CEO Jordan Glazier.  "The opportunity for music fans to help their favorite unsigned artist become part of a legendary event like Z100's Jingle Ball is unprecedented."

Eventful's unique "Demand it!" ® service is used by over 100,000 artists who engage with millions of fans to find out where they are in demand, and then utilize this essential data to optimize future tour routing and make informed decisions about where to appear.  "Demand it!" ® empowers music fans to influence the location and content of local events and helps artists fill the house in target markets, bridging the gap between social media and commerce.

For up-to-minute information on Z100's Jingle Ball 2011 listen to Z100, New York's Hit Music Station, or log on to www.Z100.com keyword: Jingle Ball.

About Z100:

Owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications, Inc., WHTZ Z100 is "New York's Hit Music Station" with more than 4.8 million listeners per week.   Additional information on the station including upcoming events and air personalities is available online at www.Z100.com.

About State Farm®:

State Farm and its affiliates are the largest provider of car insurance in the U.S. and is a leading insurer in Canada. In addition to providing auto insurance quotes, their 17,800 agents and more than 65,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts – more than 79 million auto, home, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 37 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com or in Canada http://www.statefarm.ca.

About Eventful, Inc.

Eventful is the leading digital media company connecting consumers to live entertainment and local events. Over 20 million people use Eventful every month to discover live music and Eventful provides the world's most comprehensive selection of live music listings with over 850,000 future shows to choose from. Music marketers rely on Eventful to reach fans and drive ticket sales. Eventful drives over 1 million people to buy concert tickets each month.

SOURCE Z100