MTV’s network designed for college students, mtvU, is going to award musical acts that are chosen by college students with the 2nd Annual mtvU Woodie Awards.
“This is about music, it’s not about charts,” said Ross Martin, vice president of programming for mtvU. “This is about our audience being the prophets of new music.”
The programming of mtvU aims to keep all kinds of college students in mind. The station’s goal is to provide entertainment for and by students, including music videos, short films and other creative endeavors.
The young station can now be seen on over 730 college campuses nationwide.
The “Woodies” are given to musical artists, who are beloved by college students. College students can go online to www.mtvU.com and vote for their favorite musicians. The deadline to vote for this year’s “Woodies” is today. Over one million votes have already been cast.
This year’s “Woodies” marks the first year they will be handed out live, at a ceremony.
Last year, the first year of the “Woodies,” mtvU traveled around the country to hand out the awards to the musicians.
This year, the event will be held at New York City on Nov. 2 and it will air on mtvU on Nov. 10.
Ten “Woodies” will be handed out on the night of the event. The categories include “Woodie of the Year” for best artist, “The Breaking Woodie” for best emerging artist and the “Left Field Woodie” for most original artist.
“We pick the nominees and categories by talking to college kids,” Martin said. “The spectrum of categories reflects the state of college music.”
The artists nominated for “Woodie of the Year” are Fallout Boy, My Chemical Romance, Common, The Arcade Fire and Gorillaz.
Last year, Modest Mouse received the “Woodie of the Year” award.
In addition to handing out awards, the awards show will feature live performances. Performing this year are Death Cab for Cutie, Little Brother and Matisyahu featuring Saul Williams.
“It’s going to feel more like a concert than an award show,” Martin said of the event. “It’s the anecdote to the traditional awards show.”
One of Martin’s first jobs in the industry was working for Spike Lee. “My job was to find new talent and help them take it to the next level,” Martin said. His current job as the vice president of programming at mtvU is very similar to his work with Spike Lee, because he is still on the hunt for talent.
At mtvU, Martin is now on the look-out for musicians that college students are excited about.
“mtvU is sort of a prism for you to look out into the world, to decide what music is for me and what music isn’t for me,” said Martin of why college students should tune into mtvU.
The station was launched about two years ago and also offers contests and opportunities for college students. Currently, mtvU has a contest in which contestants, who sign a petition to end global warming, can get a chance to win Larry David’s Hybrid Car.
Larry David, star of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” is known to drive the car on the television program.
The station also offers information about activist issues. Currently, information about the genocide in Sudan can be found on the Web site, including how the average college student can help.
