The Next Big Thing 2007

It's back after last year's exhilarating run – the BBC's quest for the best musical talent in the world ... and we mean WORLD.

BBC World Service and BBC World Television are looking for the future of music. On 22 October 2007, they launch a major global music talent search – The Next Big Thing 2007. The competition will be scouring the world looking for exciting new music, bands and performers who will shape the future.

Anyone can enter the competition and it is completely free and unmediated. Forget the big labels and mainstream music business, The Next Big Thing is looking for boldness and brilliance – musical pioneers who really deserve attention.

Entries last year came from thousands of musicians from over 40 countries and with BBC World Service, the biggest international broadcaster in the world with an audience of 183 million listeners in 33 languages worldwide, the 2007 competition will be the biggest yet.

This year BBC World Service will be joined by BBC World Television in the search for The Next Big Thing to expose the new and establish a platform for musicians to create and perform original music.