AIDEN Wins Virgin Mobile's 'Book The Band' To Nab Coveted Slot At Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile

AIDEN Wins Virgin Mobile's 'Book The Band' To Nab Coveted Slot At Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile

Up-and-Coming Goth Punk Rock Group Tops More Than 1,000,000 Viewer and Text Votes to Open Day Two of Baltimore-Based Music Festival

NEW YORK, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Few up-and-coming music acts could imagine joining a concert line-up boasting such legendary names as The Police, The Smashing Pumpkins and Beastie Boys. But for Seattle-based Goth punk rock band, AIDEN, that dream is about to become reality.

AIDEN nabbed the most viewer and text votes in Virgin Mobile's "Book the Band," an online and on-air production by MTV2, Kyocera Wireless and Virgin Mobile USA. These five musicians beat out four other buzz-worthy groups for an opening spot on Day Two of Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile.

Taking place over two days (August 4 & 5) at Baltimore's historic Pimlico Race Course(R), Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile features a roster of over 40 bands and deejays across two stages and a dance tent, as well as countless other entertainment and attractions. AIDEN will kick off its set at 12 noon on Sunday, August 5, as that day's opener.

"To say we're excited to play Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile is an understatement, given the caliber of such acts as The Police, Smashing Pumpkins and Wu-Tang Clan who are performing," says "wiL" of AIDEN. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring our music to a huge number of people at a terrific new venue, and proceed to kick some a--."

AIDEN captured 419,387 of the over one million votes placed online and via text over seven weeks between June 15 and July 20 to take the top spot. Los Angeles-based alternative rock band Say Anything came in second with 405,570 votes. Fullerton, California's Cold War Kids, New Orleans' Mute Math, and Las Vegas' The Higher took third, fourth and final places respectively.

"Music is at the core of everything we do at MTV2 and Virgin Mobile shares our passion for finding new ways to explore and showcase music with our audience," said John Shea, executive vice president, Integrated Marketing and Brand Partnerships, MTV Networks Music & Logo Group. "Our partnership with Virgin Mobile around the Book the Band contest is the perfect example of an innovative way to give our viewers the power to choose which buzzworthy new band deserves to make it to the main stage and take their career to the next level."

In its second year of partnership around the Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile, MTV2 dramatically grew the program by using its music expertise to identify five cutting-edge, on-the-verge bands, and by leveraging its exceptional production capabilities to craft glossy, compelling "Book The Band" profiles of each act. Starting on June 15th, the vignettes received heavy rotation on MTV2 until voting ended. A sixth vignette announcing the winning band to the MTV2 community began running this week and will air up until the launch of Virgin Festival on August 4.

"As a company with such deep roots in music, we're always looking for exciting ways to bring new talent to our customers and other dedicated music fans," says Bob Stohrer, vice president, Brand and Integrated Marketing, Virgin Mobile USA. "It's great to offer AIDEN the chance to join such a premier roster of musical artists to show what they can do."

For more information about AIDEN, visit the Book The Band section of the Virgin Festival website - http://www.virginfestival.com/booktheband. Tickets for Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile are still available and going quickly. Single day tickets are available at $97.50 for general admission and $250 for single day VIP. Two-day passes are available at $175 for General Admission and $450 for VIP. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com or 1-800-551-SEAT). For more information, please go to http://www.virginfestival.com/2007.

About Virgin Mobile USA, LLC:

The nation's leading wireless youth network, Virgin Mobile USA provides more than 4.8 million customers with control, flexibility and choice in wireless service, rich data content and innovative products without annual contracts. Voice pricing plans range from monthly options with unlimited nights and weekends to by-the-minute offers, allowing consumers to adjust how and what they pay according to their needs. Virgin Mobile's full slate of smart, stylish and affordable handsets, including the popular Switch_Back and Slice, are available at top retailers in more than 35,000 locations nationwide and online at http://www.virginmobileusa.com/, with Top-Up cards available at more than 130,000 locations.

Virgin Mobile USA's national coverage is powered by the Sprint National Network and the company, which launched in 2002, is a joint venture between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Sprint Nextel. Virgin Mobile provides some of the highest customer satisfaction levels in the industry with its own customers reporting a 94% satisfaction rate. Virgin Mobile contributes 5% of profits from downloadable content to The RE*Generation, its pro-social initiative to help homeless teens, through donations to charitable partners or funding of programs that support and raise awareness for young people in need; and provides postage-paid return envelopes in every new package for customers to recycle old phones.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Virgin Mobile USA, LLC

CONTACT: Corinne Nosal of Virgin Mobile USA, +1-908-607-4235,
Corinne.nosal@virginmobileusa.com; or Alysa McKenna of CooperKatz,
+1-212-455-8023, amckenna@cooperkatz.com

Web site: http://www.virginmobileusa.com/
http://www.virginfestival.com/booktheband
http://www.virginfestival.com/2007

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Profile: International Entertainment