Five Finalists Advance To Next2Rock 2018

With more than 1,600 entries received from across the U.S., Cumulus Media has  announced the five Rock artists selected as finalists for its annual neXt2rock competition — a national and local grassroots search for the nation’s newest rock star. The winner of this four-month-long competition will receive a record deal with Big Machine/John Varvatos Records, as well as substantial exposure, commensurate with a major label release, on Cumulus Radio stations nationwide.

The finale event will take place on October 4, 8 – 11 pm PT, at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. Music personality and longtime radio and TV host Matt Pinfield will host the evening’s festivities, while Los Angeles rock band and fan favorite, Dorothy, will headline the event.

The five national finalists, selected by a panel of Rock radio professionals, are:

• Friday Pilots Club representing Chicago, IL (WKQX) 
• The Zealots representing Des Moines, IA (KGGO)
• Black Rock Revival representing Memphis, TN (WXMX)
• No Resolve representing Saginaw, MI (WILZ & WKQZ)
• Late Night Savior representing Salt Lake City, UT (KBER & KHTB)

These five emerging artists will be judged in the finale by Rock music luminaries and industry professionals, including: Big Machine Label Group President & CEO Scott Borchetta; fashion designer and record label head John Varvatos; musician, songwriter and producer Desmond Child; Korn frontman Jonathan Davis, and Fozzy frontman, actor and wrestler Chris Jericho.

Mike McVay, Executive Vice President, Content & Programming for CUMULUS MEDIA, said: “This competition is all about the talent who will deliver the future sound of Rock. Every artist who entered this year’s neXt2rock competition is incredibly gifted and we, as a company, are extremely excited to see who will be named the next Rock superstar.”

Across radio, one out of every three (33%) Americans listens to rock music weekly. The rising popularity of the rock genre can be attributed to a younger audience coming to the format, with Millennials making up more than 30% of weekly listeners. (Source:  Nielsen Audio Fall 2017)

Cumulus Media reaches over 245 million listeners weekly, and is home to some of radio's most iconic rock stations, including KLOS, KQRS, WLUP, KATT, WGRF and KSAN.