Win studio time, a trip to Toronto & a $5000 grant courtesy of Post Foods, the makers of Sugar Crisp
November 1, 2011

Thanks to an innovative approach to secure funding by indepent music composer & producer Adam Damelin, Canadian bands and artists now have a chance at The First 15 - a cutting-edge grant from Post Foods that awards recording studio time courtesy of GIRTH Music in Toronto as well as award-winning producer support, a $5000 cash prize and a trip to Toronto.

Find out how to enter after the jump!

Post Foods recruited Jay Manara from Toronto's Broken Sons to assist in the strategic /creative planning and execution of the grant and to help spread the word.

"This program is important to me because I'm a local artist and know how hard it is to fuel the dream while having to live in reality and pay bills. It think there are a lot of really great opportunities in Canada for artists to get funding but sometime the process is difficult and artists sometimes have a hard time discovering these opportunities. I think any initiative that puts money into fuelling growth/developemnt of music and arts is a good thing," Manara says.

So how did cereal companies start funding Canadian music?
Damelin picked a sample for a song he was working on he didn’t think anything of it at first. Damelin collaborated with independent hip-hop artist Ish Morris (“iSH”) and six months later secured the backing of Post Foods’ Sugar Crisp cereal to help them promote that very track, “Can’t get enough.” The song uses the Sugar Bear jingle, “Can’t get enough of that Sugar Crisp...” from classic Sugar Crisp cereal commercials of the 1960s. “It was a catchy hook that really set a cool vibe for the track both melodically and lyrically,” says Damelin.

Sugar Crisp agreed to help market and promote the track as long as it was made available to the public for free (via facebook.com/thefirst15). Post wanted to take the collaboration a step further and developed the contest to help other emerging artists catch a similar break.

HOW TO ENTER:
Bands and artists need to upload their track to The First 15 Facebook Page. The track is allowed to incorporate the Sugar Bear jingle, but this isn't required. The contest runs from October 17, 2011 to December 9, 2011. Facebook community voting will be a factor to determine a shortlist of artist hopefuls from which a judging panel including Ish Morris, Post Foods and other Musical industry veterans will choose the ultimate winner. There are already a number of submissions, so act now!