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LONDON, April 21/PRNewswire/ --

'All Aboard' for the BritBus Tour 2006

- A 3000 mile journey

- One iconic double-decker bus

- Five British music enthusiasts

And a passion to make British music great again in America

LONDON -

The famous British double-decker bus that made its way from New York to LA is returning home to British soil this week as preparations begin for The BritBus Tour 2006. The iconic bus traveled 3000 miles across America as part of a fierce publicity campaign to shift the music-buying public's attention back to the latest British albums.

The BritBus Tour's founder, Julia Jones, spawned the idea after reading a report commissioned by the British Government in 2002, highlighting serious concerns over the decline of British music exports in the USA. Jones was disheartened by the report and decided to sell her belongings in order to help finance the tour's first launch which took place on 1 March 2005 from New York's Times Square. "With a promotional budget of just $500 and an old double-decker bus, I managed to reach an audience of around 15 million", she says. Julia received another unexpected boost when she was asked to appear live on the CBS Early Show to tell America that the bus was coming.

The campaign included MP3 listening posts donated by Virgin Electronics. Albums by The Doves, Ellie Lawson and Embrace were among those featured. The line-ups for the New York and LA shows were headlined by Ellie Lawson and supported by a variety of independent British acts alongside US bands who have been heavily influenced by British music. Sponsors of the tour included Stagecoach, Land Rover and Virgin.

Jones is now gearing up for The BritBus Tour 2006 campaign. "I plan to run a nationwide search for UK talent this year - the winner will join me in New York in 2006 and perform on top of the bus in Times Square". Next year's line-up and details of a UK talent search are to be announced. Julia is currently negotiating the release of her own debut album which is due out sometime next year.

Source: The BritBus Tour

For more information and photos, please contact: Jessica Epperly, IMMA Public Relations, +44(0)20-7403-0664 jessica.epperly@immamusic.com

------- Profile: Ent