LONDON, 11:00 Wednesday 6th March 2013: Nokia and music pioneers La Blogotheque, a team of bloggers and videographers infamous for helping to kick start the careers of scores of musicians globally, have teamed up to showcase hot new UK music talent at a series of free gigs across the country.

Working closely with Nokia, La Blogotheque will hit the UK for the first time to present the ‘Lumia Live Sessions’. These intimate gigs will consist of six sessions and feature acoustic performances from bands and artists chosen by La Blogotheque. The gigs will also be supported by local talent in each city discovered by the Nokia Music team, giving new bands a chance to let their music reach a wider audience.

Designed to capture the essence of Nokia’s free music streaming service, Nokia Music, the main aim of these sessions is to help people discover new music and talent they will love.

Featuring over 22 million tracks, Nokia Music easily caters for every taste, requires no registration or subscription and features no audio advertisements. The app is designed to encourage people to discover great new music and features over 150 playlists put together by a team of musicologists based in the UK.

La Blogotheque's ethos is that all artists perform acoustically in natural surroundings ensuring the session showcases their true talent. Christophe Abric, founder of La Blogotheque, said: “When Nokia proposed that we partner with them to bring our vision to the UK, we were in no doubt that it was a great opportunity; the UK is full of unbelievable—and often undiscovered—talent, and we would be happy to work with Nokia Music to bring the newest and best acts to the British public.”

The videos from the Lumia Live Sessions will be unlike anything that La Blogotheque has done before. They will build on Nokia’s heritage of combining music and light to bring to life the features of the Nokia Lumia smartphone at gigs and will use the unique features of each venue to illuminate the band and their surroundings.

Annie Kearney at Nokia UK, said: “The Blogotheque team are the perfect partner for Nokia Music.  They have pioneered discovery of phenomenal talent for seven years now. Lianne La Havas performed for the blog in 2011 ahead of her Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize nomination and Alt-J filmed on the slopes of The Montmartre surrounded by tourists in July 2012 ahead of their Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize win. The Lumia Live Session’s tour will build on this legacy to shine a spotlight on the ‘ones to watch’ in 2013.”

Follow the Lumia Live Sessions to uncover the new sounds of 2013 here: http://www.nokia.com/gb-en/lumialive

Please click on the following link for more information on Nokia Music: http://www.nokia.com/gb-en/apps/nokia/music/