Monkeybars Awards Emerging Artist Mentorship Opportunity With Renowned Music Producer

Online, November 20, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Monkeybars, Inc., today announced the winners of its Share a Song contest during a presentation of the Climbing the Rungs Award event. Hip hop artist Nate Millyunz was recognized as the winner of the contest, having received the most social fan shares out of all other artists on the Monkeybars platform. Millyunz will receive a day of music mentoring in Los Angeles with Monkeybars Advisor and industry-connected heavy-weight Kannon Caviar Cross, who is currently producing albums with artists, including Norega, E-40, T.I., Too Short, Tank, Joe Jonas, Goodie Mob, DMX, Macy Gray and Cee Lo Green. During the Climbing the Rungs Award video announcement, three additional awards were presented for the categories of Best Monkeybars Soundcheck Emerging Artist, Best Monkeybars Soundcheck Emerging Duo/Band and Monkeybars Soundcheck Artist/Duo/Band with the Sickest Sound.

Monkeybars aims to change the music industry by giving control back to the artists who create the music. The Monkeybars Soundcheck campaign highlighted 30 artists in 30 days through social media channels to make this vision a reality. The Monkeybars street team discovered emerging artists and brought them into the spotlight for recognition in a crowded industry. Beginning on October 15, 30 emerging artists were highlighted across the Monkeybars website and social channels, including YouTube, Facebook, Google+, Twitter and the hashtag #30Artists30Days. Through the power of video, artists were able to share their story with fans and artists alike, and through the power of fan-to-fan social sharing on Monkeybars they were able to share their music with and reward their fans.

"By spotlighting undiscovered talent we have brought awareness to numerous emerging artists out there trying to catch a break," said Steve Koskie, CEO of Monkeybars. "It has been exciting to spotlight undiscovered artists over the course of the Soundcheck campaign, knowing that the Monkeybars platform gives these emerging artists a way to create new revenue streams with complete control of their content. I am proud to be a part of a platform that truly puts artists and their content before the industry."

Through online polls, Monkeybars' social fans hand-picked the winners for the three award categories: Best Monkeybars Soundcheck Emerging Artist, Best Monkeybars Soundcheck Emerging Duo/Band and Monkeybars Soundcheck Artist/Duo/Band with the Sickest Sound. Shaun Anton, a modern day country singer and songwriter based out of San Jose, CA, was voted the Best Monkeybars Soundcheck Emerging Artist and Monkeybars Soundcheck Emerging Artist/Duo/Band With The Sickest Sound. Groove, rock, soul, dance group, Solwave, was voted Best Monkeybars Soundcheck Emerging Duo/Band. As the winners in each category, each artist will receive a $100 prize.

"I'm excited for the opportunity to meet and collaborate with Nate Millyunz and provide my knowledge on the industry and previous experiences," said Kannon Caviar Cross, Monkeybars Advisory Board member. "As someone who has been in this industry and worked with many artists over the years, I know first-hand how difficult it can be. Monkeybars is an artist's secret weapon, providing emerging artists with an avenue to connect directly with and reward the ones who matter - their fans."

Full contest details can be found at www.monkeybars.net/share-a-song. For more information about Monkeybars, please visit www.monkeybars.net and connect with us on YouTube, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.

About Monkeybars, Inc.
Monkeybars is the only socially driven platform that financially rewards artists and fans for distributing and recommending content online. Monkeybars is partnering with artists to affect true, positive change in the music industry by enabling an evolution in the distribution of content. At the same time, Monkeybars is also creating a truly rewarding social music website, in which fans share their favorite songs within their networks, rewarding themselves and the artists they support. With a deep bench of advisors, the company understands the needs of artists because the platform is supported by those who have insider knowledge on the issues within the music industry. Monkeybars is headquartered in San Jose, California. For more information, visit https://www.monkeybars.net/.