What is the Gigstarter Artist of the Year competition?

Gigstarter Artist of the Year is an annual competition since 2014. On artists’ Gigstarter profile page, fans can submit their votes. The top 3 live acts with most of the votes will be invited to play a live gig during the Artist of the Year final on November 18th, 2017. This years final will be held at Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam.

What happens at the Gigstarter Artist of the Year final?

The three artists that win the online voting competition get to perform during the final. After the three live performances, the expert jury will decide which act will become Gigstarter Artist of the Year 2017. In addition to a jury-prize, Gigstarter will be giving away a prize to the performance that wins the audience’s popular vote. Furthermore the DJ of the Year will be entertaining the crowd with its music.

Which artists can participate?

Every artist who has a public profile on Gigstarter and who can perform original compositions for at least 40 minutes, can participate at the competition. Competing artist-formations can range from live solo-artists to full bands and are only allowed to play one cover song during the final. For DJs a parallel, yet separate competition is organised, which allows the winning DJ to perform during the event at the Tolhuistuin. Artists of the Year finalists from previous years are excluded from the competition.

How do artists participate?

With only one push on the button you can participate in the Gigstarter Artist of the Year 2017 competition. To compete, login, go to your artist dashboard and click the "Participate" button. By doing so a ‘vote’ button will be showed temporarily on your Gigstarter Artist profile. Make sure to ask all your fans to vote for you through social media by sharing the link to your profile after you’ve joined the competition!

Which artists are participating?

Take a look at the full list of contestants. Don’t forget to bring out your vote!

What can artists win?

The winner, chosen by the expert jury, holds the title of Gigstarter Artist of the Year 2017 and will not leave empty handed. The competition gives artist great exposure and a unique opportunity to perform at a high-end international venue.

Can DJs join the competition?

This year there is a special competition for the DJs on Gigstarter. Every DJ who has a public profile on Gigstarter can participate in the competition. The DJ should be able to perform for at least one hour and is free in its selection of music. The DJ with most votes can perform during and after the final. Take a look at the full list of DJ contestants.

How can I vote?

You can vote for your favorite artists through a link on the profile of competing artists. You will need to login with Facebook to identify yourself (this way we know that every user is unique and helps us detect fraud). We will only use your voters' email addresses to send a single invitation for the Artist of the Year final. You will find all competing artists through the list of contestants. Competing DJs can be found through the list of DJ contestants.

Until when can I vote?

Everyone can vote from September 29th till midnight 27th of October 2017. At that point, the top 3 most popular artists and the winning DJ will be determined.

How many times is it possible to vote?

You can vote only one time on a particular artist, but on as many different artists as you’d like! If we suspect any form of fraud, we have the right to remove those votes.

Can I attend the Gigstarter Artist of the Year final?

For sure! The exciting final of the Gigstarter Artist of the Year competition will take place on November 18th at the Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam. More information about the event and tickets can be found on our Facebook event.

Will finalists receive a remuneration?

Gigstarter can not provide travel or accommodation expenses of any kind for finalist.

Which artist won last year?

After 3 amazing performances during the final Artist of the Year 2017. The rock band ACES went home with the title Gigstarter Artist of the Year 2017, as well as several nice prizes!