Social Media News Release

Audio-Technica, one of the world’s finest manufacturers of audio equipment, has announced the final six shortlist of its alternative Christmas track competition. It launched the competition in October and has received a huge wave of diverse entries from all across the UK and some from further afield.

The aim of the new music competition was to seek out fun and vibrant alternatives to the age-old tradition of Christmas carols and songs. The nationwide competition was launched through the company’s Facebook and Twitter channels, with entrants required to submit video entries via YouTube.

The online competition was not restricted to any particular type of music so bands, DJs or music producers from any genre had the opportunity to show off their skills.

The competition's judge, Steve Levine, acclaimed producer and chairman of the Music Producers Guild, joined the team to carefully sift through the entries and create a shortlist of six finalists. The judging panel want the public to make the final decision on the best entry by voting for the track they believe should win the top prize of £500 worth of Audio-Technica equipment.

Regarding the competition overall and the entries submitted, Steve Levine commented: “I was really impressed with the standard and variety of the entries to the Alternative Christmas Tune competition. From the quirky to the carefully crafted, the tracks demonstrated again what a breadth of musical talent the UK has to offer. It made the shortlisting process very tough, but great fun. And whoever is voted into the top spot will be a worthy winner.” 

Harvey Roberts, senior marketing manager at Audio-Technica commented: “When we started this competition we were looking for people to be as creative as possible and really push the boundaries of traditional Christmas music. I can safely say we haven’t been disappointed with the standard or number of entries. In fact, we have really been impressed by how British musicians have embraced our idea.”

He continues: "We’ve had an eclectic mixture of music and videos from a moped driving Santa, right through to a Drum’n’Bass inspired Christmas track. The creative variety really has been fantastic, and I think you will see that from the final shortlist we have selected. It seemed fitting that the winner should be determined by the public through our social media channels. People can visit our page on Facebook and vote for the favourite.”

The final shortlisted entries with Steve Levine’s comments are as follows:

1. Santa is a Mod  Steve comments: “I never knew Santa was a mod! An interesting concept and highly original. Cool video too.
2. Come Back Ebenezer Steve comments: “Great lyrics – the grumpy old man’s Christmas – superb job”
3. Jingle Bells Steve comments: “I can see a lot of work has gone into the editing of this one!” 
4. Astropets Steve comments: “Banjos on a Christmas record! I’d never have thought they’d work so well.”
5. 2010th Noel  Steve comments: “Dark and original video – very cinematic”
6. Ky and The Kassettes  Steve comments: “This is a great song. The only soul/r&b entry”

People can vote for their favourite video by visiting this online poll. The winning entry will be announced on Thursday 23rd December.

The winner will receive £500 worth of Audio-Technica equipment and the five runners-up will scoop prizes of £100 worth of equipment each.

Audio-Technica, which has its UK office in Leeds, sells microphones, headphones and high fidelity equipment across the world.

About Audio-Technica
Celebrating over 45 years of audio excellence worldwide, Audio-Technica is a leading innovator in transducer technology, renowned for the design and manufacture of microphones, wireless microphones, headphones, mixers, and electronics for the audio industry. Users of Audio-Technica microphones and headphones include Katherine Jenkins, Metallica, Gwen Stefani, Linkin Park, The Pigeon Detectives, Ben Mynott and Eddie Halliwell.