MTV screens raw talent with Precedent

MTV has launched a new portal – MTVUndiscovered – which aims to showcase the talents of little-known bands on the Internet. It is designed by London digital consultancy Precedent – appointed after a three-way pitch.

The site works in partnership with existing music portals, such as Italy-based Vitaminic, and Germany’s Besonic, to collect music across Europe. The acts are filtered down to appear on the “new entries” page, where visitors rate them on a scale of one to five before they are selected for one of the Top 10 weekly charts.

The bands are categorised by five genres: rock, alternative, hip hop/ R&B, pop and dance, all of which feed into an all-genre Chart of Charts, updated monthly.

Precedent implemented “streaming files” for the site – compressed audio files which take seconds to download. It designed different personalities for each genre, such as a graffiti-style font for the hip hop section, plus the overall look of the site.

“We based the MTVUndiscovered logo on the MTV marque, incorporating a pair of headphones which reflect the audio nature of the site,” says Precedent creative director Paul Mann.

Aka Jaffery, MTV Interactive product development director, says the site aims to provide a “seamless experience, with no hanging around” for visitors.