FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions about applying for project wild
If you are a solo artist you should apply as a solo artist. You will still be welcome to perform with a band at all the showcases, including bootcamp! A house band is provided at Bootcamp, that all artists at Bootcamp can use.
If you are a band, every member needs to sign the contracts, and be at every mandatory event and showcase. That is why a solo artist should not sign up their musicians unless they are a dedicated and consistent contributing member of the group!
It’s OK if you’re not available for all of them – we will ask the top 12 artists about any date conflicts with the 4 showcases and do our best to schedule around them. However, you must perform at one of the dates, and once it’s assigned no exceptions will be made.
Unfortunately, no – ALL band members must be 18 years of age by Thursday May 30, 2019 (the deadline to sign the participation contracts).
The audio from your video must be live, one take, with no edits. However, if you have multiple camera angles from that take, that’s fine.
Yes. Aspera is required in order to upload your files. Be sure to save your application, install Aspera and restart your browser.
All genres are allowed to apply but preference will be given to the genres which can be played on WILD, specifically new country, folk, americana, and roots.
Other frequently asked questions
Here is how the points break down…
DEVELOPMENT: Each of the Top 12 is awarded $5,000 to go towards career development. The committee judges how effectively each artist used this money. The weighting of this assessment was 5% of the overall mark.
SHOWCASES: Each artist performed a showcase at Knoxville’s in Calgary. A separate panel adjudicated this showcase. This was worth 40% of the overall assessment.
ONLINE VOTING: After the showcases, online voting was opened up to the public and their votes add up to 10% of the overall mark.
CHALLENGES: During the five-month Project WILD process, the Top 12 artists were given four career-enhancing challenges. This year they were challenged to create an amazing online introduction video, support a charity, create a unique merch item, and finally to create set of goals and a plan to increase their audience engagement. These challenges are assessed by the final committee and were worth 5% each for a total of 20%.
MARKETING PLAN: Artists wrote a detailed marketing plan (including a budget) explaining how they would spend the $100,953.00. The final committee evaluated these marketing plans, worth 10% of the artists’ final score.
SONGWRITING and X-FACTOR were also part of the final marks, weighted at 10% and 5%, respectively.
All the marks for each component are added up to get the final ranking. These numbers are audited closely by chartered accountants to ensure accuracy
2017 marked the second year of Project WILD - Country Artist Development. The program previously has been known as the PEAK Performance Project. A special thanks goes to the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group and their seven-year, $4.9 million commitment to developing Albertan artists and industry!
The PEAK Performance Project also ran as a program in BC for the past seven years where the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group invested $5.2 million. That’s a total of over 10 million dollars to developing Western Canadian talent! Project WILD integrates Education, Marketing, Promotion, Radio Support and significant funding for artist development.
Project WILD is funded by WILD 95.3 in Calgary, along with support from several other sponsors who are listed on this website's homepage.
All commercial and ethnic radio broadcasters with more than $1,250,000 in annual revenues must, by regulation, make direct financial contributions to CCD (Canadian Content Development) based on the previous year’s revenues. These must include contributions to FACTOR or MUSICACTION and the Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC).
For more information on CCD, visit the Government of Canada website.
Project WILD is sponsored by Wild 95.3 in Calgary, a radio station that plays predominantly new country. All genres are allowed to apply but preference will be given to the genres which could be played on WILD, specifically new country, folk, americana, and roots.
All Top 12 artists do receive funding. While the Top 3 receive more (first place is $100,953, second place receives $75,000 and third receives $50,000), each of the other Top 12 received $5,000 as a development award. This allows the top 3 artists the funds necessary to propel their careers to the next level, while still giving a boost to the other 9 artists.
The project will end in 2020, based on the station's 7-year CCD (Canadian Content Development) commitment.