Montreux Jazz Festival has today announced a UK and European partnership with TikTok for the festival’s new music initiative MJF Spotlight. Also supported by Julius Baer and Swisscom, MJF Spotlight was created in 2021 to support emerging artists and new music, in the form of original content creation and live performances. As part of the partnership with TikTok, MJF Spotlight will be releasing a series of live performances under the name “MJF Spotlight on the road”. Additionally, TikTok have been named an official partner for the 2022 edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival and will be bringing its creators and talent to the Lake Geneva shoreline this summer.
Recognizing the joint possibilities to support emerging artists, “MJF Spotlight on the road” will feature performances from some of music’s hottest rising stars. Throughout 2022 and as part of MJF Spotlight, “MJF Spotlight on the road” will feature six live showcases throughout the year that will be live streamed via TikTok and on Montreux’s own operated channels.
“Like TikTok, we are passionate about music. Leveraging the Festival’s legacy of supporting young artists, MJF Spotlight offers new talent a physical and digital platform to showcase their music to new audiences. Together, TikTok and MJF Spotlight can supercharge the process of artist discovery through entertaining and engaging content. We are very excited to find new artists to highlight through MJF Spotlight this year.”
Nick Bonard, CEO of Montreux Media
TikTok will collaborate with the Montreux Jazz Festival’s talent team to identify the most exciting rising stars in the music industry, providing the artists with a platform to reach new audiences and further their careers. The live showcases will be filmed in Zurich, with stops in Berlin, Hamburg, and London, before ending at the 2022 edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Additionally, Montreux will be offering artists from MJF Spotlight the opportunity to perform on the MJF Spotlight stage at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2022.
As an inclusive space and a home for all, Montreux Jazz Festival is committed to reflect the diversity of creative talent and genres across the music industry. MJF Spotlight showcases music from across a broad spectrum of music genres including pop, electro, rock, hip-hop, jazz, R&B and more. Each month MJF Spotlight supports one specially selected artist with exclusive digital content and live shows internationally. Previous MJF Spotlight artists include the likes of Priya Ragu, releasing two live music videos from her lauded performance at the festival in 2021, as well as a two-track live EP which was released via DSPs.
“Artist discovery starts on TikTok and at Montreux Jazz Festival. Same as for MJF our passion is enabling emerging artists of any genre take their music and passion to the next level. We cannot wait to see how the next rising stars will be unleashing the interactive potential of TikTok LIVE or create entertaining content to inspire new and existing fans.”
Michael Kümmerle, Head of Music Operations Germany, Austria and Switzerland at TikTok
Also supported by Julius Baer and Swisscom, MJF Spotlight is part of Montreux’s mission to diversify and perpetuate the festival’s exposure through its subsidiary media company Montreux Media Ventures. Launched in 2019, Montreux Media Ventures was created to evolve the festival from an annual event into a company sustainable in itself by creating high quality content all year round.