The deal ties in with the launch of the Sony Walkman Flash, a new compact MP3 player, and the 10th anniversary of NME.com, and marks the first time NME.com has run a bands competition through its homepage.
The winning act, which will be chosen by NME readers, will be invited to play at the website's 10th birthday party later in the summer alongside established bands and the audience that voted for them.
Entries for the competition are accepted through the Walkman NME Breaking Bands , with the magazine hopeful of uncovering a new Arctic Monkeys.
The campaign will be promoted with a range of activities, including the print and online editions of NME, Club NME nights nationwide, and a channel for Sony Walkman on the NME Breaking Bands site.
The partnership was brokered by Andrew Sanders, IPC Ignite!'s new-media ad director, and Kevin Heery, director of digital development, with Cate Murden and Chrissie Deakin representing Sony's media agency OMD.
Sanders said: "With this partnership we are not only presenting unsigned bands with a once in a lifetime opportunity to share their music with some of the most passionate and discerning new music lovers, we're also giving music fans the chance to get involved in promoting their favourite acts online."
Fiona Landsberg, Sony Walkman brand manager, said: "Breaking Bands is the perfect way to launch the new Sony Walkman Flash MP3 player. NME is probably the most credible new music brand in the world and this partnership allows us to celebrate not just the wealth of new music talent in the UK, but the freedom of access to new music that digital technology provides."
The NME, edited by Conor McNicholas, has a weekly circulation of 76,792.
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