Press Release One:
Futuremusic Announces "The Next Big Thing" DJ Contest

July 6, 2004, New York, NY - Futuremusic, a multifaceted, electronic music concern, has announced "The Next Big Thing" - the largest DJ contest of the year. The winner of the contest will receive an incredible arsenal of best-in-class DJ gear, and open for Super Star DJ John Digweed on his US tour this summer.

"The Next Big Thing" is open to all US based, non-professional, house music DJ's who don't earn the majority of their income from DJing. "In today's climate, it's very difficult for a DJ to get a big break solely from their DJ skills," Futuremusic's Dan Brotman reveals. "We're giving a talented, up-and-coming DJ the opportunity of a lifetime...to open for a Super Star DJ, at a premier club, and receive the largest prize package of the very best DJ gear."

Contestants will need to download the official entry form and rules from Futuremusic.com and submit a 60 minute, house music mix on CD. The mix has to be achieved on vinyl turntables, digital CD turntables, and/or Final Scratch. Futuremusic, John Digweed and the sponsor's philosophy behind the contest is to "give back" to the DJ club scene in the US. There are already several scratch DJ events, but none aimed specifically at house music that gives a rising DJ their big chance. All mixes will be judged on track selection, mixing ability, creativeness and sound quality.

"Futuremusic only asked best-in-class companies to sponsor this unique competition," Brotman reveals. DJ gear manufacturers who produce shoddy equipment or dodgy software were turned away. The winner will score an unprecedented collection of the latest cutting-edge DJ products from Alienware, BeatPort, PCDJ, Peavey, Technics, M-Audio, Native Instruments, The Dubhouse, IK Multimedia, and many others. This is the largest collection of prizes every assembled for a DJ mix competition."

The winner of "The Next Big Thing" will receive an unprecedented prize package that will include 150 free tracks from dance music's best digital download site, Beatport.com, an Ozma Digital Audio Workstation from Alienware, the Komplete2 software suite from Native Instruments, DJ gear from Technics, Reason 2.5, Ableton's Live 4, cutting-edge digital mixing software and hardware from PCDJ, a Radium 49-Key USB MIDI controller from M-Audio, a complete turntable suspension system from FreeFloat, The Grabber from Peavey, 100 promotional CD's of their mix from The DubHouse, and much, much more!

"There are only a handful of top DJ's in the world I know who would even entertain the possibility of giving someone the special opportunity to open for them. John Digweed is at the top of the list because he's a special individual who always has his heart in the right place. Through his music, record label and DJing, John Digweed is always giving back to the dance music community that launched his career and Futuremusic is honored to be working with him," Brotman states.

For the latest information about The Next Big Thing 2004 visit Futuremusic.com/djcontest

Press Release Two:
Futuremusic's "The Next Big Thing" DJ Mix Contest Ignites Winner's Music Career

"This experience has been such a validation of my dreams and hard work." - Hac Le (Winner)

"I was totally blown away by the amount of DJ's entering the Next Big Thing DJ mix contest." – John Digweed

"I'm thrilled that Futuremusic was able to give Hac Le this opportunity of a lifetime." – Dan Brotman, Futuremusic

September 20, 2004, Denver, CO - The nationwide DJ talent contest THE NEXT BIG THING came to a thrilling conclusion this past weekend as Winner HAC LE opened for superstar DJ JOHN DIGWEED at the Denver Colorado stop of his Endless Summer Tour. "This experience has been such a validation of my dreams and hard work," said an astounded HAC after receiving a personal phone call from DIGWEED revealing he was the contest winner.

Close to 2000 contestants were vying to be THE NEXT BIG THING, sending in 60 minute DJ mixes from all across the United States. FUTUREMUSIC hosted the contest and screened the entries. "It was a tough decision," says Futuremusic President DAN BROTMAN, "we had dozens of our staff listening round the clock to all the CD's that came in. We narrowed it down to 5 semifinalists, and then John Digweed personally selected the winning mix."

"It was very exciting to take part in this special event. I was totally blown away by the amount of DJ's entering The Next Big Thing, and the standard of the mixes were very high. This just shows that DJ culture is still very much a career path that many young people want to follow," stated John Digweed.

In fact, Digweed was so enamored by Hac Le's winning entry, that he is going to feature the mix in its entirety on an upcoming episode of his internationally syndicated Kiss 100 radio show.

So what was it like for Le to be flown out to The Church, one of America's premier clubs? "DJing at the Church was incredible," Hac Le recounted. "You feel like you are transported into another world with the architecture, lights and décor. The crowd, the vibe and the staff were amazing. Denver really has a hot scene!" However, the true highlight of the evening for Hac was meeting John Digweed. " John Digweed has been my favorite DJ for a very long time." Hac revealed. "His musical influence was pivotal in my development as a DJ. He is exactly the type of DJ I want to be. So to have the opportunity to meet the role model that I respect and admire the most in the industry, leaves me kind of speechless."

Hac continued, "Digweed was everything I was expecting. He was very nice, grounded, and seemed pretty humble. A class act. Qualities you don't often see from a superstar of his magnitude."

The feeling was mutual, as John Digweed was also quite impressed with Hac Le. "As well as a great DJ, Hac is really down to earth guy who loves his music I wish him all the best in the in the future and I hope that winning this contest gives him the break he deserves."

The contest winner not only got to be the opening DJ for JOHN DIGWEED, one of the top 5 DJ's in the world, but was showered with enough DJ gear and music production technology to make any musician swoon. Contest sponsors included Alienware, BeatPort, Ableton, Peavey, Technics, M-Audio, Native Instruments, The Dubhouse, IK Multimedia, Propellerheads, and FreeFloat, making this is the largest collection of prizes ever assembled for a DJ mix competition. The prize package included 150 free tracks from dance music's best digital download site, Beatport.com, an Ozma Digital Audio Workstation from Alienware, the Komplete2 software suite from Native Instruments, DJ gear from Technics, Reason 2.5, Ableton's Live 4, a Radium 49-Key USB MIDI controller from M-Audio, a complete turntable suspension system from FreeFloat, The Grabber from Peavey, 100 promotional CD's of their mix from The DubHouse, and more. So what's Hac going to do with all this gear?

"I plan to dive in headfirst into the production side of things and bang out some tracks. Winter's coming up in Chicago so it will be perfect. I'll just hibernate in my apartment, learn the tools of the trade and hopefully have some decent tunes by spring. I've been talking about acquiring a proper studio to my friends since forever and now I finally have one. This is a Godsend! Thank you! Thank You! THANK YOU!"

To Hac Le, a first-generation American whose parents emigrated from Vietnam, this opportunity has already spring-boarded his DJ career. With the overwhelming positive response to his incredible DJ set, Hac was immediately invited to play at the after hours, and THE CHURCH has invited him back to play again this fall. Hac also received local media attention in his hometown of Chicago, and has been asked to open for James Zabiela and Lee Burridge in Milwaukee. In addition, Hac was also hired to play in Cancun, Mexico where he will be interviewed by DJ Concept magazine.

"I'm thrilled that Futuremusic was able to give Hac Le this opportunity of a lifetime. His graciousness, humility and great attitude has made all the hard work worth it!" Dan Brotman, President of Futuremusic commented. "As the premier DJ Mix Contest, The Next Big Thing allows Futuremusic to give an up and coming DJ's everything they've always wanted. What could be better than that??"

"I would like to thank Futuremusic and everyone involved with organizing this contest as it really helps motivate new talent to push themselves," Digweed added.

Futuremusic.com will build on the success of THE NEXT BIG THING in its future contests. Stay tuned at www.futuremusic.com for news and announcements for Experiments In Sound and THE NEXT BIG THING 2005.

Press Assets:

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