Shown in the New York office are BMI's Mark Barron and June Neira, Demo Contest winner daRome Bentley, and BMI's Benjamin Tischker

Bentley was chosen as the winner from over 1,000 songwriters and artists by a panel of prominent A&R executives. The young soul artist was then flown to New York City to record a three-song demo at the Demo Center's state-of-the-art recording studios, working with such A-list producers as two-time Grammy nominee Ernie Lake (Backstreet Boys, Faith Evans, Britney Spears, Cyndi Lauper) and Mike "G" Guerriero, who has produced several dance hits on the Billboard charts.

The Demo Contest was co-sponsored by BMI, music production company the Demo Center and electronic press kit producer Sonicbids.com.

A native of Oklahoma, daRome Bentley is quickly emerging as one of Atlanta's soul music scene-makers. He began singing in church, and later performed as an opening act for r&b hitmakers K-Ci & JoJo, Next and Joe. With influences such as Marvin Gaye and Kenny Lattimore, Bentley has also competed in songwriting competitions with the Georgia Music Industry Association (where he was a finalist) and the International Songwriting Competition. He has also performed as part of Atlanta's Atlantis Music Conference. The buzz on the talented urban artist continues to grow, with a much-rumored record deal on the near horizon.

Over 1,000 songwriters and artists entered the highly anticipated competition, which ran from January through early April 2006, with Bentley chosen as the winner by a panel of prominent music industry A&R executives. As the winner, Bentley will be flown to New York City to record a three-song demo Nov. 4-5 at the Demo Center's state-of-the-art recording studios. Bentley's demo will be produced by Ernie Lake, who was twice-nominated for a Grammy for his remixing and production work for artists like the Backstreet Boys, Faith Evans, Britney Spears and Cyndi Lauper, among others, and Mike "G" Guerriero, who has produced chart-topping hits on the Billboard dance charts.

The top prize also includes round-trip airfare for up to four people from anywhere in the continental U.S. and a three-night hotel stay. DiscMakers, the leading CD manufacturer for the independent musician, will also provide Bentley with 1,000 finished demo CDs.

A native of Oklahoma, daRome Bentley is quickly emerging as one of Atlanta's soul music scene-makers. He began singing in church, and later performed as an opening act for r&b hitmakers K-Ci & JoJo, Next and Joe. With influences such as Marvin Gaye and Kenny Lattimore, Bentley has also competed in songwriting competitions with the Georgia Music Industry Association (where he was a finalist) and the International Songwriting Competition. He has also performed as part of Atlanta's Atlantis Music Conference. The buzz on the talented urban artist continues to grow, with a much-rumored record deal on the near horizon.

The Demo Center is a full-service music production company that specializes in cutting-edge demos and artist development. The company works with all major labels, including J, Atlantic, Jive and Warner Bros., Billboard magazine, and artists such as Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, Usher, Jennifer Lopez, Whitney Houston, Pink, Jessica Simpson, and many others.

Sonicbids.com is at the forefront of creating electronic press kits (EPKs), and is becoming one of the fastest-growing music communities on the web, trusted by over 70,000 artists and over 6,000 festivals, music conferences and clubs from over 100 countries. It aspires to be the common "language" that people who make music and people who promote music use to connect and transact with one another.]]> 2006-10-26T05:00:00-05:00