As Americans celebrate the nation's independence on July 4, MTV will also honor its own origins as a station that started out focusing primarily on music.
Hearkening back to the days before "Jersey Shore," "Teen Mom" and "Awkward," MTV is joining forces with VH1 and CMT for "Music Independence Day," which aims to draw attention to emerging musical artists.
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On July 4 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., the three networks will highlight new artists, as well as celebrate existing ones.
The "Music Independence Day" programming will be the culmination of a campaign launched Wednesday, during which artists can upload their songs and videos to their own page on the networks' Artist Platform. (Artists can claim or create their pages by going to artists.MTV.com, artists.CMT.com or artists.VH1.com.) The videos and songs will be considered for on-air exposure during July 4.
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The artists will also be able to sell their music to fans. And those will be able to leave tips for the artists. (Hopefully, the tips won't be along the lines of, "Don't quit your day jobs.")
"We want to let fans discover and really love up musicians, give a tip, buy them a beer or simply send a message of support,” Viacom Music Group president Van Toffler said. "We have a history of introducing new artists, celebrating our audiences' favorite established superstars and providing a forum for all to reveal their influences and the stories behind their music … So we’re going to celebrate the music, let musicians get heard, promoted, and loved. That ain’t all bad."