Pepsi Elevates The "Best New Artist" Category

Returns as Official Beverage Partner of The GRAMMY® Awards

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Jan 24, 2013, 12:45 ET

PURCHASE, N.Y., Jan. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Pepsi will elevate "Best New Artist" category providing fans exclusive unparalleled access through a strategic partnership with VEVO, Pandora, and the GRAMMY®s.

In addition to serving as the presenter of the "Best New Artist" category during the live telecast of the award show, Pepsi, in partnership with The Recording Academy® and VEVO, has unveiled an exclusive "Best New Artist" video series, featuring a behind the scenes in depth look at this year's nominees.

Also returning this year is Pepsi's Best New Artist Pandora mixtape, which includes current and past Best New Artist GRAMMY® nominees. The Pepsi GRAMMY® genre stations are also available on Pandora and feature stations based on official GRAMMY® categories, ranging from pop to country to comedy.

"Pepsi has a long history of discovering and nurturing musical talent," said Angelique Krembs, VP of Marketing, Pepsi. "Our partnerships truly showcase our efforts to introduce and deliver new and exciting fan experiences by utilizing our best-in-class assets and multiple platforms all while delivering great content to music fans around the world."

Pepsi's multi-faceted partnership with The Recording Academy® includes a "5 Questions With" series set to be featured exclusively on GRAMMY.com and across VEVO's web, mobile/tablet and connected TV platforms that will give fans the opportunity to discover GRAMMY® nominees and potential winners. Also, the brand partnered with the GRAMMY®s for their live telecast which will introduce this season's THE X FACTOR®s winner, Tate Stevens. Part of Pepsi's aspirational prize, a :30 portion of Stevens' first-ever music video which features his first single, "Holler if You are With Me," is set to air during the award show on February 10, 2013 on CBS.

"We were very encouraged by the tremendous amount of fan engagement around last year's Best New Artist video series," said Evan Greene, Chief Marketing Officer of The Recording Academy®. "This exclusive, forward-looking content program helps further connect music fans with some of today's most exciting, relevant artists"

"The GRAMMY® Awards is one of the year's biggest events for VEVO and we're thrilled to partner with Pepsi and the GRAMMY®s to make it even more special this year," said David Kohl, Executive Vice President, Sales and Customer Operations, VEVO. "It is part of VEVO's ongoing mission to support emerging talent and, with the Best New Artist category always a hotly anticipated contest, it's exciting for us to play a part in further introducing the recording stars of tomorrow to music fans."

This program is an extension of Pepsi's "Live For Now" campaign, which invites and inspires consumers to live life fully in the moment. For more ways to participate in the Live for Now mindset, please visit www.pepsi.com.

About PepsiCo
PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales. Our main businesses – Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola – make hundreds of enjoyable foods and beverages that are loved throughout the world. PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which we believe also, means a more successful future for PepsiCo. We call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo's promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages for local tastes; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment by conserving energy and water and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our associates; and to respect, support and invest in the local communities where we operate. For more information, please visit http://www.pepsico.com

About The Recording Academy
Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, songwriters, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @TheGRAMMYs on Twitter, like "The GRAMMYs" on Facebook, and join The GRAMMYs' social communities on Foursquare, GetGlue, Google +, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and YouTube.

About VEVO
VEVO is the world's leading all-premium music video and entertainment platform. VEVO is available in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and United Kingdom through VEVO.com, the mobile web, Mobile and Tablet Apps (iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry Playbook), Connected Television (Xbox, Roku, Boxee) and user embeddable video players. In various territories, VEVO powers music videos on artist pages across Facebook, as well as syndicates to dozens of online sites, including AOL, BET, CBS Interactive Music Group (including Last.fm and MP3.com), Fuse.tv, Univision, Viacom Media Networks, Wenner Media and Yahoo! Music. Additionally, through a special partnership with YouTube, VEVO is accessible in over 200 markets, expanding the platform's reach around the globe.

About Pandora
Pandora (NYSE: P) gives people music and comedy they love anytime, anywhere, through connected devices. Personalized stations launch instantly with the input of a single "seed" - a favorite artist, song or genre. The Music Genome Project®, a deeply detailed hand-built musical taxonomy, powers the personalization of Pandora® internet radio by using musicological "DNA" and constant listener feedback to craft personalized stations from a growing collection of hundreds of thousands of recordings. Tens of millions of people turn on Pandora every month to hear music they love. www.pandora.com

SOURCE PepsiCo