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About the Showcase

What is the Showcase?

The dictionary definition of a showcase is: "a setting in which something can be displayed to best effect".

This is what HITLAB is all about; finding the best unsigned songs & artists and putting them in a setting to show Akon and the world just how good they are – and hopefully getting them signed to Akon's own Konlive or Konvict labels, or even to one of the other big name labels.

So how does a song get chosen to be showcased?

To answer that I first need to tell you about how the Dynamic Hit Scoring (DHS) system works. You see, in cold, hard technical terms, music is simply a series of sound patterns that is (hopefully) pleasing to listen to.

Our clever computer nerds have developed a kind of robot (the DHS) that looks at the patterns of a song and compares them to the patterns of songs that have hit it big in the Billboard charts over the past 6 years.

It then gives the song a score or rating from 0 to 100 based on how similar its pattern is to those of the chart toppers. The higher the song scores, the more likely that song will be a chart topper itself.

How can a computer tell if a song is good or not? Isn't musical taste subjective?

You're right! Musical taste is totally subjective and a computer program by itself cannot tell for certain that a song is good or bad. It can only compare the data and give a cold-hearted technical response…although, I have to admit, the DHS hasn't been wrong yet.

But we don't rely on the DHS alone. We also get real humans - who themselves have musical talent and know a good song when they hear it – to listen to these high scoring songs, look at the artist/fan interaction* and pick the best ones. The artists are then invited to perform in front of Akon, a panel of judges and a live audience. Those that perform best could walk away with a record contract and be on their way to stardom.

* The HITLAB website is like a mini version of the real world. The way artists and fans interact on the site gives us an indication on how the artist will interact with their fans in the "real world". After all, who is going to buy music from someone who is rude to their fans?

So how do I showcase my songs?

When you analyze your songs through the DHS (for only $29.99), you'll see a button called "Showcase" appear next to the song on the "My Tracks" page in your profile. Click it.

Once the song has been submitted to the showcase, fans can then vote on it.

Remember: songs with the highest scores and the most votes are in the running to be selected for the Showcase to perform LIVE in front of Akon!

I'm not an artist, but I want to participate.

That's great. Any member of HITLAB can vote for songs they like. By voting you're helping that artist get into the Showcase and you can also win tickets to the show to watch the performances live.

Who are the Judges?

These are some of the big names who you could be performing in front of if you are invited to perform at the Showcase:

Sir Rupert Perry
: Sir Rupert Perry was knighted Commander of the British Empire in the Queen Honor List of 1997. He has been President and Chairman of EMI America, UK and Europe and most recently was awarded the prestigious IFPI Medal for services to the international Recording Industry.
Maurice Joshua: Maurice Joshua is recognized as one of the world’s best Producers, Remixers and DJ’s. Winner of a Grammy Award for his remix of Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” in 2004, he is an ex member of Chicago’s worldwide famed trio I.D. Productions along with Steve “Silk” Hurley and Eric “E-Smoove”.
Kaz Utsunomiya: Kaz Utsunomiya is the Ex executive Vice president of Virgin Records US and ex President of Virgin Music America and Ex senior Vice President of Epic Records West Coast. He is also a consultant for many bands and artists, past and present, such as Queen, Sex Pistols and Duran Duran.
Eddie Wenrick: Eddie Wenrick has been a Senior Executive of Entertainment of multiple businesses for the past 30 years. His credits include being Director of Columbia Records in New York, Senior Vice-president and General manager of Epic Records, one of the founding members of Country Music Television with James Williams Guercio and being part of the management team of the rock legends KISS.

Affiliated Studios

There are 25 renowned studios across North America affiliated with HITLAB.

Imagine recording your tracks where Michael Jackson, The White Stripes, David Bowie, Alicia Keys, Coldplay or Jay-Z recorded their own hits!

Here's a list of the studios where you could be recording your chart topping hit.