Original post: by Chris Eggertsen on billboard - http://bit.ly/2Qg5Ehd

The initiative has previously supported Omar Apollo, Cautious Clay, Yungblud and The Marias, among others.

Concert discovery tool Bandsintown announced five new inductees to its emerging artists program Big Break on Wednesday (May 8), including EDM multi-instrumentalist Hazey Eyes, R&B singer Herizen, rock duo KOLARS, Portland indie-pop group Reptaliens and R&B singer-songwriter Adrian Jean. All five performed at Bandsintown’s Big Break showcase at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

Launched in September 2017, Big Break’s mission is to help promising musical acts build an “active live community.” As part of their participation, artists receive promotion across Bandsintown’s digital platform, including custom editorial, email marketing credits, in-app features, brand partnerships, touring, special showcases and social media promotion.

“We’re thrilled to welcome such a diverse group of artists to the Big Break family and are honored to support them across multiple channels as they reach new fans on the road,” said Fabrice Sergent, managing partner of Bandsintown. He noted Bandsintown refers 3.5 million music fans to ticketing sites weekly, of which roughly half are for concerts from developing artists, "illustrating a genuine hunger for new music discovery on the platform.”

More than 25 artists have joined Big Break since its inception, including Cautious Clay, Yungblud, Bailey Bryan, Noah Kahan, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, Boy Pablo and The Marias. Using data from Bandsintown’s own system, acts are chosen based on how many new “trackers” (fans who follow an artist’s touring schedule on the platform) they rack up over a six-month period. Five of those with notable increases on that metric are invited to join.

“Working with Bandsintown and being included in their Big Break program is an unreal opportunity,” said Reptaliens frontwoman Bambi Browning. “Bandsintown and Big Break are amazing resources that help to connect artists and listeners. We do everything we can to try and reach new fans, so this is huge for us!”

One of the most notable successes to come out of the program has been singer-songwriter Omar Apollo, who joined in September of last year (after releasing his debut EP Stereo) and has since seen a 156% increase in monthly listeners on Spotify and signed to AWAL. On Bandsintown, his number of trackers swelled during that period from 5,933 to 21,184.

“Big Break has given us a huge opportunity to reach Omar's fans in a way they've never been reached before,” said Seth Nuddle, the tour and digital lead for Apollo. “In a day and age where there are countless shows, and countless artists, Bandsintown's Big Break program has allowed artists to stand amongst the crowd.”

Bandsintown claims 130 million monthly active fans, 50 million registered concertgoers and 500,000 touring artists on the platform worldwide. In March, the company acquired the artist-centric music tech companies Hypebot and Music Think Tank.