VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced that its Third Annual SHOJO BEAT Music Awards Issue features a reader’s choice vote and a new, exclusive contest in conjunction with MYX, the first and only music lifestyle channel focused on the Asian American market. The February issue, on sale at retail outlets now, offers a host of new surprises and exciting editorial content sure to delight even the most discriminating fan.

The February 2008 issue of SHOJO BEAT, rated T+ for Older Teens, celebrates the best in Japanese music with a beginner’s guide to Japanese bands, a Tokyo record store’s top 10 and two music-themed Hot Lists in addition to the featured awards. For the Music Awards, SHOJO BEAT takes a look at previous up-and-comers in the awards competition as well as this year’s newest and most talented artists. In the Best Pop Artist or Group category, artists include: Budo Grape, Puffy AmiYumi, Swinging Popsicle and HALCALI. In the Best Rock Artist or Group category, artists include: L’Arc~en~Ciel, AN CAFÉ, ROCKET K and DOGG BONE. There is also a new category for Music Videos made possible by the folks at MYX.

SHOJO BEAT readers who vote for their favorite music will be entered into a random drawing for one of 15 cool prizes. Prizes include 100 song downloads on JapanFiles.com, and the latest edition of Dance Dance Revolution, SuperNOVA2 donated by Konami. For more details and Official Rules, visit http://shojobeat.com/music/rules.php.

In addition to its help with the Music Video category in the Awards, MYX is also working with SHOJO BEAT this month and allowing readers to get even more into the exciting world of Asian music. The ‘MYX a Music Spot SHOJO BEAT Style’ contest promotes a search for creative SHOJO BEAT and J-Music-loving fans to help MYX create a 10-30 second spot to be featured between their regular programming of music videos and Asian-American oriented shows! Participants will simply upload their ideas to the MYX.tv website, MYX and SHOJO BEAT will pick the best concepts, and one lucky grand prize winner will have their concept turned into an actual spot produced by MYX. The grand prize winner will also receive a SHOJO BEAT goodie bag containing a T-shirt and Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution game. Each of the three runner-up winners will receive a SHOJO BEAT goodie bag containing a T-shirt and Konami’s latest Dance Dance Revolution game. For more details and official rules, visit http://www.shojobeat.com/myx32/.

MYX is also offering an exclusive promotion in conjunction with the SHOJO BEAT music issue on its website (http://myx.tv) where participants can enter to win a new 16gb iPod Touch. Site visitors who join the MYX newsletter are automatically entered in a random drawing to win…