Fame Games Radio is a music discovery radio program produced by Meer Music International (MMI) for Envision Radio Network in association with

Dial Global Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The c ...

Radio Network, since February 2010. (The program was previously syndicated through

Citadel Media Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), whi ...

(formerly ABC Radio Networks, through

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company founded and developed by Larry Wilson. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the count ...

) since June 2008.) "Fame Games" is a worldwide competition that has been online since 2006 and on terrestrial radio in Southern Spain since 2004. It is the first music performance competition show on network radio which aims to discover the best new, "unsigned" music from around the world. The show is designed to help promote and break

independent artist Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties afforded by i ...

s or "Indies" for short. When unsigned artists submit their songs through MMI's FameGamesRadio website, each song is evaluated through a complex review process before ultimately reaching the broadcast stage. By gaining fan support and positive reviews, a song then advances through several voting stages required to reach the Quarter-Final show (webcast with some terrestrial support). From there the best songs move on to the daily on-air Semi-Final shows and ultimately on the weekend Final shows. Winners are determined by the highest vote totals and review scores based on MMI's proprietary "unanimity formula," with weekly

finalist The final of a competition is the match or round in which the winner of the entire event is decided. Overview In sports competitions following a knockout system, where only two individuals or teams compete in each match, the final is usually played ...

s from qualifying events competing for "Track Of The Week", "Track of the Month" and "Track of the Season" honors. Weekly episodes of "Fame Games" air Monday-Friday through terrestrial as well as online radio affiliates. The program is hosted by the established panel of six judges, which includes singer/songwriter Laura Krier, songwriter/producer Paul Sedkowski and session guitarist Graham Keeling - all independent musicians themselves; as well as Sid Olivera, a former

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

and BFBS Radio personality. The group is rounded out by Jake Waby and Lexy Badger-Ward, two teenage artists-in-training who provide the teen perspective to the group’s discussion and on-air reviews. "The Global Breakthru Chart" was created in 2009 as a Top-40 format program for independent music, but the show is currently suspended. The Fame Games weekend Final also includes an exclusive weekly pop music analysis feature called "The Cowell Factor", hosted by author, journalist, head of CowellMedia and brother of

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...

Tony Cowell Anthony Cowell (born 1950) is an author, journalist and showbiz reporter, columnist for Best Magazine. He co-wrote his younger half-brother Simon Cowell's autobiography, '' I Don't Mean to be Rude, but...'' Work Cowell is a weekly columnist fo ...

. Concept History 1992-2000: MMI was specialized in artist development and production. Founded by Paul Sedkowski (songwriter/producer,

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promos, Prince Scandal, Kimera),

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(manager

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(producer

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), Rob Davis (songwriter

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), Andy Tumi (songwriter Fishbowl,

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), Peter van der Meer (businessman). 2001: MMI's first independent-music-based TV formats (never aired) were formulated and circulated in the industry. Re-constituted by Paul Sedkowski, Mary Jane Trokel (TV director/producer

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, Solid Gold,

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), Laura Krier (singer/songwriter) 2004: MMI launches "Fame Games" as a music discovery show, on the

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radio network in Spain, focused only on local talent as well as own productions. 2006: Fame Games is launched on the web and international independent artists are invited to air on the show. end-2006: Over 500,000 visits to the MMI site from artists and webcast listeners confirms that the concept is highly appealing. 2007: The annual "Effigy Awards" show is launched to highlight the best artists on the show to date. 2008: Fame Games is syndicated by ABC Radio Networks and begins airing across the USA on selected affiliates. Re-constituted by Paul Sedkowski, Laura Krier, Ignacio Infante (lawyer) and Valerie Bonehill. 2009: "The Global Breakthru Chart" show is launched. "The Cowell Factor" with Tony Cowell is also launched. By the end of 2009, the Fame Games website has seen over 5,000,000 visits and the show is airing on nearly 100 webcasts, podcasts and terrestrial affiliates around the world. Augmented by Don Wasley (marketing expert

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). 2010: Fame Games drops the ABC/Citadel syndication and signs with Envision Radio Networks in association with Triton/DialGlobal Radio Networks.

External links

Fame Games Radio - Official WebsiteMere Music International - Official WebsiteEffigy Awards Site

Envision Radio Network - Official WebsiteTriton/DialGlobal Radio Network - Official Website

Fame Games on ABC Radio Networks
{{Triton Digital 2000s American radio programs 2010s American radio programs