Vodafone and MTV have announced the launch of Vodafone Fast-track, a competition designed to discover the next big music act. 
Over the next four weeks, any unsigned band or artist from 26 countries around the world can upload their best original track to the Vodafone Soundbites website, along with photographs and band/artist biographies, to win a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to record a single and a professionally-produced music video which will be aired on MTV and distributed through Vodafone live! 
From 7 January onwards, the MTV community will have the opportunity to vote for their favourites and select the top 20 hopefuls. The winner will then be selected by a panel of industry experts from the music business.
The winners single and music video will be produced by the MTV team, who will also arrange studio time to record the winning track and secure TV broadcast during commercial airtime on MTV in 29 countries
Vodafone will then help set the winning band on a fast-track to fame. Utilising the global high speed mobile network, the winners single will be distributed via Vodafone live! across 18 European markets, as well as Australia and New Zealand
The competition spot will also be integrated within the Vodafone Music Reporter profile on MySpace, where a forum will engage friends of the community to discuss the favourite entrants. The winners video and single will then be available to stream from the MySpace Vodafone Music reporter profile.
The Vodafone Soundbites Fast-track competition will be supported by a marketing campaign with MTV, running online and on TV across 26 countries. 
Following the success of Vodafone Music Reporter with MySpace, we continue to deliver unique music experiences to our customers across multiple platforms, says Vodafone Group Global Brand Director, David Wheldon. Vodafone Fast-track reinforces Vodafones credibility in the music industry, creates exciting opportunities for our customers and at the same time strengthens our position as a global communications brand.”