The iconic CMJ Music Marathon is officially set to make its long awaited return after five years of being inactive, according to Stereogum. The festival, which initially ran from 1978-2016 in New York City, will be making its online return later this summer via Amazing Radio, which acquired the CMJ name earlier this year.
The company plans to launch the festival later this year, “come hell or coronavirus,” Amazing Radio chairman Bill Hein said in a statement. Due to the coronavirus, the festival will occur online, and will be “set up to emulate the iconic New York City festival and its spirit of new music discovery.”
Bands will be able to pay a one time fee of $30 to perform at the virtual CMJ Music Marathon, which should also theoretically allow bands to be eligible for airplay on Amazing Radio’s digital radio shows.
CMJ Music Marathon first launched in 1978, and ran until 2016 when the then CEO Adam Klein was sued over unpaid wages by several employees working the festival. The unpaid wages totaled more than half a million dollars, and the massive legal and financial scandal crippled the festival back in 2016. Prominent artists who have performed at the event in the past include Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eminem, Sonic Youth, Lady Gaga, Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie, A Tribe Called Quest, Run DMC and R.E.M.