MUMBAI: Hard Rock International, along with ReverbNation has announced the beginning of the live performance round for its worldwide contest- Hard Rock Rising. The two will work together to select finalists for the live round from over 13,000 entrants for the global battle of the bands. Hard Rock will also introduce a new element to the contest, by allowing bands to participate in it through video submissions.

Through the contest aspiring musicians will get an all-expense paid trip to Spain, where they will compete to perform at the premier Hard Rock Rising Barcelona global music festival, which will be held in summer this year. Additionally, the contest winner will also be offered a potential development deal with international label- Island Records.

The first round of the contest began on Monday, 2 March at participating Hard Rock locations world over, and will have one winner from each city. Hard Rock locations in India will start the first round of battle from 5 March onwards.

Along with receiving $1000 in prize money, location winners will then proceed to the regional phase of the contest. Regional winners will be sent to Barcelona to take part in the final live battle event.

Regional winners will be selected in the last stage of the competition by a panel of international music industry professionals. These include legendary rock band- Poison’s frontman Bret Michaels, E Street Band’s Steven Van Zandt, Mumford & Sons bassist- Ted Dwane, Frightened Rabbit’s guitarist and vocalist- Scott Hutchinson, pop multi-instrumentalist LIGHTS, Panic! at the Disco's lead vocalist- Brendon Urie, Maps & Atlases bassist- Shiraz Dada and Taiwanese band- Mayday’s bassist Masa.

“Hard Rock Rising is the ideal platform for up-and-coming artists to showcase their talent and I am honoured to be included in the judging panel to review the finalists from Hard Rock locations around the world. Everyone in the music industry knows how hard it can be to get discovered, and I look forward to hearing some incredible new talent,” said Dwane.

Last year, Mumbai-based Koniac Net finished as runners-up at the global event, losing out to Seattle's Joyfield. In 2014, Hard Rock International held over 28,000 live music events all over the world as a means of supporting emerging artists and music.