Verbicide Unsigned 2010 Contest is giving one lucky unsigned band the chance to receive press coverage and have their CD’s printed for free.

The companies recognize unsigned musicians have a tough time receiving press coverage and they want to give up-and-comers, no-namers and the next-big-things a chance to be seen and heard as they profile the best of the best.

VerbicideMagazine.com has also teamed up with an array of partners to award the grand prize winner free CD manufacturing, gift certificates for music gear and more.

Koolhaus Games just announced a new international contest for unsigned bands to enter to win the chance to have their music featured on the soundtrack of the next version of the iMP: Surf the Music game for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad game available on iTunes Music Store.

According to the website, iMP: Surf the Music is an interactive funkadelic music rhythm game for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Unsigned bands may enter songs until July 2, 2010 midnight (PDT). Submissions will be posted on their contest website and the winners will be voted on by fans from all over the world.

Wasted Space is co-owned by Action Sports Super Star Carey Hart, Yankees baseball player Jason Giambi, and the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Rockers Benji and Joel Madden of Good Charlotte are partners. Hard Rock’s Cory McCormack will act as Managing Partner.

Wasted Space represents the ultimate depiction of the decadent rock n’ roll lifestyle. The first anti-club of its kind, Wasted Space melds the high-end rock n’ roll culture with fashion, art and design creating a one of a kind atmosphere and nightlife experience.

“I wanted a place where my friends and I could hang out and listen to some great rock music with a cool atmosphere…there were no options in Vegas, so I made my own,” said Hart. “Wasted Space will feature the top rock artists weekly, in addition to the hottest DJ’s in the country.”

Indie or pop artists are somewhat independent artists, whose music does not comply with the trends of the common commercial music industry. Their music genre is thus, what makes them stand unique from the rest of the music fraternity.

To understand in better way, let us explore as how and why this trend of pop artists started. Indie artists started as aggressive bands during 1970s. They made music and songs for people, who shared similar ideology as theirs. The trend passed on and now, there are numerous pop artists in the music industry.

Independent band iRival are set to release their new full-length album, Don’t Wake Up Extended, on September 6th. The indie band will also embark on a US tour with some fellow unsigned bands.

“We are excited to announce that we will be touring with Family Force 5, Breathe Carolina, and Cash Cash on the DanceRawrDance tour in Sept.-Oct.,” said guitarist Johnathan White in a news release on the band’s Myspace page. “For the D.R.D tour we will be posting video blogs and updates on DANCERAWRDANCE.COM every couple of days so stay tuned!!!”

On the second-leg of touring, iRival will be joined by Hit The Lights, There For Tomorrow and Sparks the Rescue.

I received an interesting message on my music page on Myspace today from “Kristine” explaining that she is “interested in getting you on some upcoming shows.”

“Kristine” said in her message, “i saw your prfile and seems cool.. i book afton shows in milwaukee and im thinkin youd fit well on shows i’ve got comin up- like maybe this one at miramar theater on aug 29th?”

I found this to be really interesting since I only have an instrumental track and an acoustic guitar track on my music page. Both are not show ready and do not prove that I can take on a performance at the Miramar Theater, which is a predominant venue.

As we see the significance of digital music downloading services dominating the competition, independent bands are utilizing digital music distribution as a method to market to the world.

There has been an increased amount of indie bands that are releasing well-polished music, which is ready to be marketed and sold. But being a sole proprietor of a product that you want to sell around the world could be a daunting task for bands.

Contacting a distribution company to help spread the word about the band’s music is an alternative, which is effective, but the bands need to read the fine print.

Rock Band Network will permit independent and unsigned bands to submit their own songs for users to download later this year. This offer is exclusively for Xbox 360 versions of the game with the intention of providing the most downloadable tracks to Playstation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii moving forward.

Indie bands can price their songs between 50 cents and $3, netting 30% of track sales. Users of the game will be able to preview Rock Band Network songs before they purchase.

A set of professional tools, which will allow people on the front line of writing and recording songs to completely control their destiny. They will also have admission to interactive products and then giving them direct access to the download store.

With a recession occurring, it can be very difficult for music lovers to dish out the money to see their favorite bands live. Whether the bands be major or independent the cost of purchasing concert tickets, or the actual music can take an unnecessary hit to the pocket book.

I believe this time of penny-pinching can favor the independent bands and the affordable pricing, which comes with their movement.

Indie bands can offer their music for free and can provide an affordable price for a ticket to watch their show. Unsigned bands can definitely take advantage of this situation, because they have no one over their shoulder asking them for a share of their sales profits.

After turning on ESPN’s Sportcenter show,  I quickly noticed that the credit line of one of their montages featured independent band, Anarbor, who is signed under indie label Hopeless Records.

ESPN usually embraces the indie music movement for their EXPN action sports spectacles, but that is about it. Now they have expanded this mindset and there are many indie artists waiting line to be a part of the movement.

Could the indie music movement be quietly being embraced by the higher-ups and starting a trend that could take on pretty fast? Yes, this type of move has been used in the past, but it was very rare. Every corporation usually wants the big major label artist behind their product.

Hopeless Records is the home to indie bands such as, All Time Low, Thrice and list goes on, but who would have thought that these bands would be part of features in the mainstream media?