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Whether it’s a consumer product or a piece of music, there’s much to be said for allowing fans to have a say in how it’s designed and marketed. Just as Dutch media entrepreneur John de Mol turned to the crowds last year for help creating the next reality-show hit, so brand-new site Genero.tv is relying on music fans to create the next winning videos for a variety of participating bands. Currently on the verge of kicking off its first contest, startup Genero.tv has signed on a number of artists interested in getting fans to create the official videos for their music. Sixteen songs are featured in the current contest, which opens Sept. 12. To create a video for one of them, fans begin by registering with Genero.tv and downloading the track they’re interested in. No artist footage is provided, but otherwise fans can go to town expressing their feelings about the song in a video and submit it in a variety of formats up to 1GB in size. Uploading a video to Genero.tv grants exclusive license to the site; it also opens the video up for voting. Four finalists will be chosen for each artist/song competition—two based on user voting and two by the judging panel. From there, one winner is ultimately chosen for each song by its judging panel—typically some combination of Genero.tv staff and artist representatives—as well as one overall winner across the 16 song contests. Individual contest prizes include tickets, backstage passes and music workshops, while the overall winner gets the not-unsubstantial prize of USD 4,000. Fans can submit videos for the current contest any time before Oct. 23. Winners will be announced on Nov. 13. In the music industry alone, fans are now playing key roles in funding, marketing and creating music videos, giving bands not just valuable help but also a way to engage the consumers they care most about. How has *your* brand reached out to involve, benefit from and reward its biggest fans…? (Related: Agency for customer-made ads.)