4.8 /10 1 Votes
Genre Reality Country of origin United Kingdom Production company(s) Princess Productions First episode date 15 August 2010 Network Sky 1 | 4.7/10 TV Voices of Peter Dickson No. of series 1 Original network Sky1 Final episode date 19 September 2010 Presented by Fearne Cotton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Judges Jamie Cullum, Sharleen Spiteri, Dizzee Rascal Cast Dizzee Rascal, Jamie Cullum, Sharleen Spiteri, Fearne Cotton, Peter Dickson Similar Got to Dance, The X Factor (UK), The Voice UK, Later with Jools Holland, Sunday Brunch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Must Be the Music was a British television musical talent competition contested by aspiring singers and musicians drawn from public auditions. The show was a music competition and reality show that was broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Auditions were held in Edinburgh, Manchester, London and also held in Ireland. The show began airing in August on Sky1, and was also simulcast in HD. Fearne Cotton presented the show. The first and only series was won by Emma's Imagination, a female singer from Dumfries.
Contents
The winning act received £100,000 to help kick-start their music career. In the initial televised audition phase as well as the three semi-finals and final, contestants sang in front of the judges - Jamie Cullum, Sharleen Spiteri and Dizzee Rascal. Among the notable artists competing in the show were Irish fiddler Daithí Ó Drónaí and The Trinity Band, who went on to win Live and Unsigned in 2011.
The show was broadcast on Sky1. Must Be the Music was devised as a spin-off for the highly successful Got to Dance, which finished its first series in February. The live finals were held at Wembley Arena. Must Be the Music had a live audience behind the judges. During the live finals, the public voted for their favourite act, which they wished to keep in the competition.
Although critically acclaimed due to its difference from The X Factor, it fared badly with audiences, only receiving 370,000 viewers for its finale. The show was officially cancelled by Sky1 on January 2011 due to the low ratings.
Format
The auditions took place in early August 2010 in front of the three celebrity judges. Unlike X-Factor which limits itself only to singers, Must Be the Music was open to all musicians who were allowed to play their own compositions. Fearne Cotton described the show as ‘It’s about acts who can sing, play… or do both!’
The audition process culminated in the judges selecting 15 acts for the semi-finals which took place at the Fountain Studios in Wembley (which is also used for The X Factor). Each semi-final had five acts with a five-minute voting window at the end of the show to decide which two acts from each semi-final proceeded to the final, which took place on 19 September at Wembley Arena.
The winner of the show received a £100,000 cash fund rather than a record contract with an emphasis on giving the acts control over their careers. Additionally, every song performed on the show was available to download from iTunes and Sky Songs with 100 per cent of the net profits of the songs and merchandise going to the musicians. A case at the High Court in February 2014 established that the format was not copied from a proposal from another company.
Polish version
From March 2011 the first edition of the program, titled Must Be the Music. Tylko muzyka, has been broadcast by Polish TV station Polsat. The show became very successful among the audience with approximately 3 million viewers each season and by 2015 was running its tenth edition. The first Polish winner, Enej band, achieved great commercial success that added to the show's popularity. Numerous Polish artists launched their careers through the program, such as LemON, Red Lips, Oberschlesien, Tune or Shata QS.