UltraphonicCatching the attention of a record-company A&R scout has always been a daunting task. However, one band that has found a way to differentiate itself from the masses is Atlanta-based Ultraphonic (www.ultraphonic.com). The group did this by winning Garageband.com's $250,000 recording contract competition.

Garageband listeners choose a contest winner from the approximately 40,000 songs available on the site. Reviewers receive two randomly selected songs at a time, and they don't learn the artists' identity until after the review process is complete. Each artist gets the same number of reviews, and the artist with the largest positive count at the end of each quarter wins the recording contract.

Ultraphonic, whose members have been together for slightly more than two years, consists of Jason Fowler (guitar and lead vocals), Brent Wilson (bass), Brooks Wilson (guitar), and Tom Conroy (drums). They released their debut CD in early '99 to rave reviews. Their songs on Garageband.com are from their forthcoming CD, Impression.

Ultraphonic spokesman and producer Bryan Holmes comments, "We are very pleased to have won. Each of the five songs we uploaded made the top 30. In an industry where a few major-record-company executives pick and choose what the general public gets to hear, music fans now have an opportunity to voice their opinions. It's long overdue. It took the Internet and Garageband.com to provide a forum that assesses the talent and marketability of an artist with absolutely no political diversions affecting the outcome."

The song that put Ultraphonic over the top is "Our World." "Our fans' reaction to the song confirmed the positive gut feelings we had when we wrote it," notes Wilson. "Bryan Holmes always felt it had the greatest potential as a first single. We had already decided to put a remix of the song on our upcoming record, and the results on Garageband.com proved this was a good idea."

The Internet has been a tremendously helpful vehicle in promoting Ultraphonic, driving sales of the band's music and furthering their opportunities for live performance. With their excellent writing, performing, and production skills, their future looks very promising.