ELECTRONIC ARTS SET TO KICK OFF MADDEN NFL 2007

Electronic Arts will release the newest edition of their popular video game on August 22, with 36 new acts represented, including Panic Channel, the band formed by Dave Navarro and two other former members of Jane’s Addiction, according to EA music guru Steve Schnur.

“Year after year, the music selected for inclusion in EA’s smash hit football series invariably becomes the soundtrack of the football season, moving beyond the game to turn up in football stadiums and on live TV broadcasts,” said Schnur. “The Madden NFL Football franchise is recognized across North America as a driving force behind break-out bands… this year EA does it again.” More than 51 million Madden games have been sold worldwide to date.

Last year’s edition featured Avenged Sevenfold, Fall Out Boy and the All American Rejects; in 2004, the game included Franz Ferdinand and the Hives; in 2003, Jet and Yellowcard; and in 2002, Good Charlotte and Seether.

To promote the new game, the Panic Channel will kick off a week-long concert series on ABC's Late Night With Jimmy Kimmel Aug. 21 with the track "Teahouse of the Spirits." Other bands slated for the compilation, a mix of established sellers and newcomers, include 30 Seconds to Mars, AFI, Al Fatz, Anti-Flag, Atreyu, Audioslave, Bishop LaMont, Cartel, Cord, Damone, Dashboard Confessional, Dynamite MC, Feezy 350, Glasses Malone, Hit the Lights, Keane, Less Than Jake, Lupe Fiasco, Matchbook Romance, Omnisoul, Rise Against, Riverboat Gamblers, Saves the Day, Shorty Da Kid, Spank Rock, Sparta, Taking Back Sunday, Pink Spiders, The Rapture, the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, The Sleeping and Trae.

Also in the works is a first-ever MTV special on the "Music in Madden" phenomenon that will air close to the game debut, spotlighting how the bands are chosen and the effect it has had on their careers.

EA launched Madden NFL 2005 edition with an iTunes exclusive that spotlighted 11 of the 21 tracks on the game, with Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out” hitting the digital tracks chart soon afterward.

More than 1,200 theaters will soon feature a "Madden" trailer with Taking Back Sunday's game track "Spin." Madden bands Taking Back Sunday, Anti-Flag, Rise Against and the Red Jump Apparatus are currently on the Vans Warped Tour.