Portsmouth band to receive a once-in-a-lifetime music package courtesy of TikTok

TikTok has been partnering with leading charity Youth Music on the very first Youth Music Awards. The new hashtag challenge #MusicShapedMe features the winner of the Youth Music Original Track Award sponsored by TikTok — Circles by Portsmouth alternative indie band VCR.

The challenge is currently live on TikTok and invites the TikTok community to share a clip which shows how music has made them the person they are today, using the #MusicShapedMe hashtag. The challenge, which so far has 9.2M views, features VCR’s Youth Music Award-winning track. Well-known creators James Owen (@jamesowen1999) and Sur Face (@surfaceldn) got inspired by the winning track and have already joined the challenge.

VCR members Josh Sanderson (vocals and rhythm guitar), Sam Lewis (lead guitar), Roddy Mead-Cecil (bass) and Lewis Swainbank (drums) formed the band in January 2019, with support from local charity The UVG (Urban Vocal Group), which receives funding from Youth Music.

In addition to the unique opportunity to have their song featured in a challenge, TikTok is giving the band a fantastic prize package, which includes the opportunity to finalise Circles at a world-class recording studio, a music video to promote the song and the release of the track by one of TikTok’s music industry partners.

As part of the charity partnership, Youth Music recently launched a channel on TikTok featuring songs shortlisted for the Original Track Award. The winner and runners-up were chosen by public vote. The tracks voted runners-up were Bell’s Gone for the Bell by Matthew Nealis, a 21-year-old singer-songwriter from Liverpool who has had support from the DaDaFest and Drake Music projects; and Soulless by Credo x SIBBY, a duo who met at Positive Youth Foundation in Coventry. VCR were announced as the winner last week at the Youth Music Awards ceremony in association with Hal Leonard Europe, held at Battersea Arts Centre in London.

VCR said: “It means so much to us to have won the Original Track Award. We’ve been together for less than a year, so to be able to come this far and achieve something on a national scale is just out of this world. So many people were nominated for this particular award, so for us to win… it’s just rather surreal!”

See some of the best videos below!

James Owen (@jamesowen1999)


Sur Face (@surfaceldn)