Defected Records have teamed up with leading download hub Beatport to bring you a producer’s wet dream of a competition. We know that the wealth of talent out there is immeasurable and want to uncover as many shiny gems of production genius as possible. And so, we present probably the best talent search you’re likely to find that doesn’t involve having your character assassinated by an extremely rich man in high trousers. We’re giving you the opportunity to submit your top track to be rated by members of the public and judged by a panel of top A&R bods. You’ll have 6 weeks to submit your track and encourage as many of your friends to rate your track as possible, after which the top 10 tracks will go through to Phase 2 of the competition which will be purely voted on by members of the public. The higher the rating of your track and the more people who vote for it, the more likely your track will make it to the final stage, so get your mates voting! It’s not all about the producers either; everyone who votes will be entered into a competition to win a personally engraved iPod fully loaded with Defected music, as well as 10 runners up prizes of the 5 latest In the House albums. Once the final 10 tracks have been selected, the voters will decide, and the table will be constantly updated to see who’s coming out on top. The eventual winner will be in for a whole world of pleasure.. The winning producer will have the once in a lifetime opportunity to have his or her tracks mixed down by a duo who have hit the top of the UK charts with their debut release – a remarkable achievement – the Shapeshifters; and you’ll be in the studio with them. The finished product will then be released as a single on Defected Records and given the same level of promotion that we do with all our releases. Frankly, we thought this was enough of a draw, but the good chaps at Beatport decided that on this occasion enough wasn’t quite enough and have added some goodies of their own. The winner will also get Pacemaker; a revolutionizing portable music player equipped with an extensive range of professional audio manipulation features enabling limitless mixing between two independent channels, Native Instruments Audio 4 DJ and $250 of Beatport credit, while the track and producer will be promoted on Beatport.com and Beatportal.com as well as the Defected site. Second prize is Native Instruments Traktor Pro and $100 of Beatport credit, while third prize gets Native Instruments Absynth Spectral Expansion, Reaktor Spark Massive Expansion Vol.2 and $50 of Beatport credit. Basically this competition is the business, and if you’re an aspiring producer you’d have to be mad, insanely stupid or dead not to get involved. The fun all starts next week, so check back soon for further details...