SXSW: VCast Music expands catalog

Verizon Wireless is set to announce a whole slew of independent content deals at the South by Southwest music festival tomorrow that include relationships with IODA, CD Baby and the Digital Rights Agency (DRA). At the same time, the carrier is looking for some very original content from unsigned talent competing for a spot on the VCast Music roster through MySpace. It's been a month since Verizon Wireless kicked off the competition and it's come down to 15 unsigned artists from the original 14,000 entrants. Bronx resident Franco Anthony is in the lead and stands to win a song, music video, ringtone and ringback tone featured on VCast, which would conceivably make him "the first mobile-inspired superstar." The competition is a perfect blend of social networking on the Web and interactive mobile content.

For more on VCast Music:
- see this article from DigitalMusicNews.com