They come, they travel, they do battle and they conquer . . . all in the name of music. The Mill's Battle of the Bands, which runs from August through to December, is one of the hottest competitions around.

With prizes amounting to some £2,500 each year - made up of cash, recording time, management deals, support slots, websites and a whole host of other goodies - this is THE competition to be in. And proof of all that is the entries we receive. Groups to Scotland to Devon have entered the competition which sees 64 groups play through 16 heats, four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and the final, generally the last Saturday before Christmas.

We are now accepting entries for the Battle of the Bands 2009.