''Fearless Music'' was a televised musical showcase broadcast between 2004 and 2010 which featured live performances from up-and-coming acts, primarily from the

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

and

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

circuits. It was filmed at the Crash Mansion rock club in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The show aired at 12:30am on Saturdays on

WNYW WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagship W ...

Fox 5 and was syndicated in over 200 cities in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, 350 college TV stations, and worldwide through

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

History

The show was founded by its producer and lead host, Jamie Lamm, whose career as a

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

had been inspired by rock documentaries and musical showcase series that aired when he was younger, including The Midnight Special and

The Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music show. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. ...

. The name "fearless" referred to the show taking a chance on musicians that other mainstream media would be afraid to promote. In August 2003, Fearless Music began taping artists in New York City. The first episode aired on New York's local

Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...

channel on January 18, 2004. Despite high-quality audio, due to the show's low budget, it was filmed using three

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

home security cameras. The show moved forward on Fox and its affiliates, airing on more stations beginning April 1, 2006. Studio lights and HD cameras were also installed for an improved look. On October 12, 2008, the show launched its own

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channel, providing clips from band performances on the show, as well as some full episodes. By the end of 2008, nearly 1,500 bands had appeared on the show; however, the show's parent company, Fearless Music Inc., filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

to get out of its $100,000 debts. The show continued for three further seasons until its final broadcast on December 4, 2010. On March 24, 2011, it was announced that Union Square would acquire Fearless Music Television, but no further episodes were made and the acquisition was cancelled on March 24, 2012.

Format

The show consisted of seven bands and one short interview segment. The first six bands were performances recorded in the Crash Mansion rock club in New York City. Viewers could then vote for their favorite artist at FearlessMusic.com during the following days. The final performance would be from the band that won the previous week's online poll.

Episodes

Season 9

References

External links