AC/DC, IRON MAIDEN Up For 'Best Concert Tour Of The Year' Award

Eventful Inc., the leading digital service connecting consumers with entertainment and local events, and Billboard, the world's premier music brand, today announced the launch of the third annual Eventful Fans' Choice Award, which will allow music fans across the country to vote for the artist they think should win the 2010 Billboard award for Best Concert Tour of the Year.

The twenty-five artists up for the award include AC/DC, ALICIA KEYS, BON JOVI, BLACK EYED PEAS, DAVE MATTHEWS BAND, THE EAGLES, IRON MAIDEN, JAY-Z, JOHN MAYER, LADY GAGA, MICHAEL BUBLE, NICKELBACK, TIM MCGRAW, and TAYLOR SWIFT. Fans can access the complete list of nominees and help their favorite artist win when they "Demand it!" via Eventful's unique social media platform by logging on to eventful.com/fanschoice. They can also spread the word virally across Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace by inviting their friends to Demand their favorites.

The artist who receives the most demands through Eventful's service will be announced as the winner at the seventh annual Billboard Touring Conference & Awards, presented by ShowClix and in association with Music Networx, taking place at the Sheraton in New York City on November 3-4, 2010.

This distinct award, purely based on fan votes, will be presented at the close of the conference along with the rest of the Billboard Touring Awards, which honor the concert industry's top artists and professionals based on actual data compiled through the Billboard Boxscore chart. The conference also includes panel sessions, roundtable discussions and networking opportunities for touring industry power players and decision makers.

"There have been some incredible touring successes in 2010, and fans have shown that they still love to watch their favorite artists perform live," said Ray Waddell, Billboard's Executive Director of Content and Programming for Touring and Live Entertainment. "With their strong connection with the concert-going public, Eventful is uniquely qualified to gauge fan demand and determine the winner of the 2010 Fans' Choice Award."

"We're excited to work with Billboard to honor the leading touring acts of 2010," said Eventful CEO Jordan Glazier. "We love helping fans discover and enjoy live music and by working with Billboard we're able to let the fans voice their opinion regarding which artist put on the best tour of the year."

Eventful and Billboard are providing a glimpse into how technology can create a better and more compelling experience for the new digital generation of concert-goers. This comes at a time when artists and promoters are utilizing new platforms that have the ability to develop closer relationships with consumers and greatly enhance the overall end-to-end experience surrounding live music. Eventful's "Demand it!" service helps facilitate this connection by regularly empowering fans to influence the content and location of all types of events and entertainment including concerts, movie releases, and broadcast radio and television content. Over 100,000 performers use "Demand it!" to engage with millions of their fans to find out where they are in Demand, and then utilize this essential data to optimize future tour routing and make informed decisions about where to appear.