Enter & compete online
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About Young Guns
Win $5,000!
Now that's a prize!
All Styles Welcome
the Bands & Songwriting Contest
About Young Guns 2008
The Young Guns 2008 Nationwide Online TEEN Battle of the Bands & Songwriting Contest is a first-of-its-kind event that has been organized to inspire the artistic aspirations of young musicians.
Young Guns is open to teen musicians who perform any style of popular music, including but not limited to rock, alternative, punk, and urban.
High-school-age musicians who meet the eligibility requirements may enter their band in Young Guns using our online entry form. The non-refundable registration fee is just $20 (with a half-price discount for the first 100 bands), payable online by major credit card.
After a band or songwriter completes the registration process, Young Guns creates a display page for with a link to the group's or artist's myspace playlist. (sample band page)
Visitors to a band's or songwriter's Young Guns display page may vote through an online rating system and also leave comments.
Fan ratings will help a panel of music industry professionals in selecting the Muzak Grand Prize winner for the best band.
Young Guns 2008 is a project of the Catawba College Music Business Students Association.
Catawba is one of only a very few four-year college and universities in the country that offers a full curriculum for popular musicians. It goes hand in hand with our vigorous degree program in music business.
You can learn more about popular music and music business at Catawba in the footer for the current page and by following this link.
Young Guns is also made possible by the generosity of a number of respected music industry organizations that serve as our sponsors.
The 2008 Young Guns Teen Battle of the Bands grows out of the mission of Catawba College to educate students of popular music.
Like their college counterparts, high-school students interested in popular styles find little institutional support for their musical passion.
Young Guns’ primary goal is to offer such support and inspiration to this under-served population while at the same time validating and inspiring the musical aspirations of all entrants.
Through its website, Young Guns provides educational content for young musicians of popular music and links to sites that can help them increase their skills, network with their peers, and learn more about the music industry.
Young Guns also helps spread word about Catawba College's programs of study in both popular music and music business.
Finally, Young Guns provides members of the Catawba College Music Business Students Association with a hands-on pre-professional project that brings their music business studies out of the classroom and into the real world.
For specific inquiries about Young Guns, including how your organization can join our list of sponsors, please email Dr. David Lee Fish, Catawba College Director of Popular Music and Music Business.
A PDF file of a general Young Guns 2008 press release is also available.
