OFFICIAL RULES

RLE NEXT UP – Season 1 — Season: One - New Beginnings

Rules Version 1.0

Effective Date: 10/3/2026

Last Updated: 10/3/2026

Eligibility Entry Period Competition Dates Prizes Judging Voting Tie-Breaking Fraud Disqualification Music Rights Publicity Travel Taxes Conduct Content Rights Privacy Sponsors

Eligibility

The Competition is open to legal residents of the fifty United States and District of Columbia who are at least eighteen (18) years old at the time of application. Applicants must: (1) be legally eligible to enter into contracts; (2) provide accurate application information; (3) meet all application requirements; (4) submit an eligible application before the deadline; (5) own or control, or possess sufficient authorization to use, all submitted Competition material; (6) be legally able to participate in the Competition; (7) be available for required Competition activities; (8) if selected as a Finalist, be available to participate in the in-person Houston finale; (9) accept the current published Official Rules; (10) comply with applicable RLETV terms and Competition requirements. Employees, officers, directors, Competition judges, and individuals directly involved in administering the Competition, together with members of their immediate households, are not eligible. RLE may request reasonable documentation to verify age, identity, residency, ownership, contractual status, or other eligibility requirements. The Competition is void where prohibited or restricted by law. NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT IS NECESSARY TO ENTER, PARTICIPATE, SUPPORT A CONTESTANT, VOTE, OR WIN. There is no application or entry fee. A paid RLETV subscription is not required. Purchasing RLETV subscriptions, merchandise, music downloads, tickets, tips, artist products, RLE products, or other paid products or services does not provide additional Competition points or votes. Paid conversions may be tracked by RLE for internal business analytics but do not directly generate Competition scoring points.

Entry Period

Applications Open: November 2, 2026. Applications Close: December 13, 2026 at 11:59 PM Central Time. Application Review: December 14, 2026 through January 2, 2027. Contestant Announcement: twenty-four official contestants are scheduled to be announced January 3, 2027. To apply, applicants access the official RLE NEXT UP application through RLETV and complete all required fields (legal name, artist/stage name, date of birth, city/state, email, telephone, genre, biography, social-media and streaming-platform information, artist photograph, original music, audition/performance video, existing management/label/publishing/distribution/contractual information, and short responses on why RLE should sign them, what makes them different, their fanbase, and their plan to grow their audience during the six-week Competition). Applicants must accept the current published Official Rules before submitting. Submitting an application does not guarantee selection. RLE will evaluate eligible applicants and select up to twenty-four official Season 1 contestants considering music quality, originality, artist identity, performance ability, commercial potential, stage presence, image/branding, marketability, audience connection, professionalism, and artist-development potential. Selection as a contestant does not itself create an employment, partnership, management, recording, publishing, joint venture, or other business relationship with RLE.

Competition Dates

Competition Begins: January 4, 2027. WEEK 1 (Jan 4–10) — Introduce Yourself to America: 24 contestants participate; artist introduction, original music, performance content, and Build Your Army begins; 24 remain 24, no elimination. WEEK 2 (Jan 11–17) — Show Us the Record: 24 contestants present original music for evaluation; 24 → 16. WEEK 3 (Jan 18–24) — Performance Challenge (Show Us You Can Perform): 16 contestants evaluated on performance quality, stage presence, audience connection, creativity, confidence, artist identity, professional presentation; 16 → 10. WEEK 4 (Jan 25–31) — Artist Development Challenge (Show Us You Can Build a Career): 10 contestants complete an artist-development/branding/marketing challenge using a hypothetical $5,000 release marketing budget; 10 → 6. WEEK 5 (Feb 1–7) — Semifinal: 6 contestants evaluated on music, performance, artist development, marketability, fan engagement, Build Your Army results, executive evaluation, and season-long performance; 6 → 4, producing the RLE NEXT UP Season 1 Final Four. FINALE WEEK (Feb 8–13): the Final Four prepare for and participate in the in-person finale. SEASON 1 FINALE: Saturday, February 13, 2027, Houston, Texas — Final Four → 1 Winner. RLE may establish specific weekly submission, judging, voting, and announcement times within these periods through the Competition Platform. There is no Week 1 elimination; all 24 contestants receive two Competition weeks before the first scheduled elimination.

Prizes

The Winner receives: (A) RLE NEXT UP SEASON 1 WINNER TITLE — official Season 1 recognition on RLETV and applicable RLE promotional platforms; (B) OFFICIAL RLE CHAIN — one official RLE chain selected and provided by Royale Legacy Entertainment; RLE is not required to publicly advertise or display the monetary value of the chain and may maintain any valuation or documentation required for its internal accounting, tax, prize administration, or legal compliance; (C) RLE RECORDING AGREEMENT OFFER — offered under RLE's applicable artist agreement, subject to eligibility, rights clearance, required documentation, representations, warranties, and execution requirements; selection as Winner constitutes the right to receive the applicable RLE offer, but winning does not itself execute the agreement, which becomes effective only after execution by all required parties; (D) ARTIST DEVELOPMENT support for the Winner's transition into RLE's artist-development process; (E) RLETV FEATURED PLACEMENT; (F) RELEASE / DISTRIBUTION SUPPORT subject to the terms of the applicable executed artist agreement; (G) CONTENT / PROMOTIONAL SUPPORT subject to RLE's approved campaign and applicable artist agreement; (H) MARKETING SUPPORT subject to the applicable executed artist agreement and approved release strategy.

Judging

Each contestant may receive a Competition score of up to 100 points: MUSIC / ARTIST QUALITY – 30% (music quality, originality, song quality, artist identity, commercial potential, artistic-development potential); RLETV FAN SUPPORT – 25% (per the Fan Support Calculation); PERFORMANCE / WEEKLY CHALLENGES – 20% (challenge execution, performance quality, stage presence, creativity, audience connection, professional presentation); GROWTH & MARKETABILITY – 15% (audience growth, branding, marketing ability, content strategy, adaptability, commercial positioning, ability to mobilize an audience); RLE EXECUTIVE EVALUATION – 10% (professionalism, coachability, reliability, work ethic, business readiness, responsiveness, artist-development potential, alignment with RLE's objectives). Total: 100%. RLE may appoint qualified judges for each Competition season, who may include music-industry professionals, artists, producers, songwriters, entertainment executives, media professionals, RLE representatives, or other qualified entertainment professionals selected by RLE. The number and identity of judges may vary by season and may be invited, added, replaced, or assigned by authorized RLE administration as appropriate, subject to Competition integrity requirements; judges will be announced through RLETV, RLE promotional channels, Competition programming, or other official RLE communications. Judge participation does not alter the approved Competition scoring percentages — RLE Executive Evaluation remains a separate 10% Competition scoring category. RLETV allows authorized administration to configure and assign judges separately for each Competition season rather than hard-coding specific individuals into the Competition. Fan Support Calculation (25% of total score): Verified RLETV Supporters 30%, Verified Referral Signups 25%, Weekly Fan Votes 20%, Music/Video Engagement 15%, Fan Growth Rate 10%. RLETV may normalize eligible metrics for fair comparison and may prioritize verified unique-user activity over raw clicks, refreshes, repeated playback, or other artificially-inflatable activity. RLETV may establish an initial fan-growth baseline for each contestant at or immediately before the Competition begins, measuring both Total Verified Fan Support and Competition-Period Fan Growth. Weekly Scoring: Week 1 = 100% Week 1 Competition Score; beginning Week 2, Weekly Competition Score = 60% Current Week Score + 40% Cumulative Previous Performance (the average of applicable prior completed Competition performance, calculated without recursively compounding previously weighted weekly scores). Week 1 results remain part of the contestant's Competition history.

Voting

FAN VOTING AND RLETV SUBSCRIPTION PROVISIONS Sponsor: Royale Legacy Entertainment / RLETV, 11002 Olde Mint House Lane, Tomball, Texas 77375. These provisions replace any prior language concerning fan voting limits, RLETV subscription voting benefits, or statements suggesting that paid and free RLETV users receive an identical number of fan votes. 1. FREE ENTRY FOR ARTISTS There is no application fee to enter RLE NEXT UP Season 1. Eligible artists are not required to purchase an RLETV subscription, product, service, or other item to apply for, participate in, advance through, or be selected as the RLE NEXT UP Season 1 Winner. A free verified RLETV account is sufficient for all artist application and competition requirements unless otherwise stated in these Official Rules. Purchasing an RLETV subscription does not improve a contestant's individual judging score, eligibility, standing, or treatment by the Sponsor or judges. 2. FAN VOTING Fan voting is one component of the RLE NEXT UP competition and accounts for twenty-five percent (25%) of the applicable overall competition scoring framework. Fan voting does not independently determine the Season 1 Winner or advancement unless expressly stated for a particular Competition Period. Other factors may include music and artist quality, performance and challenge results, growth and marketability, and RLE executive evaluation as described elsewhere in these Official Rules. 3. VOTING PERIODS The Sponsor will designate specific voting periods during the Competition. Voting periods, opening and closing times, eligible contestants, and other applicable voting instructions will be announced through RLETV and/or official RLE NEXT UP channels. Votes do not carry forward from one voting period to another unless expressly announced by the Sponsor. Unused votes expire at the conclusion of the applicable voting period and have no cash value. 4. FREE VOTE Each eligible verified RLETV user may cast one (1) free vote during each designated voting period. A paid RLETV subscription is not required to cast this free vote. The Sponsor may require account verification, email verification, identity verification, device verification, or other reasonable anti-fraud measures before accepting a vote. 5. PAID SUBSCRIBER BONUS VOTES After an eligible free RLETV user casts the user's free vote during a voting period, the user may be offered the opportunity to become a paid RLETV subscriber. An eligible user with an active paid RLETV subscription may receive ten (10) additional bonus votes during that voting period, for a maximum of eleven (11) votes per eligible paid subscriber per voting period, consisting of: 1 free vote + 10 subscriber bonus votes = 11 total available votes. Monthly and annual RLETV subscriptions receive the same ten (10) bonus votes. Selecting an annual subscription does not provide additional voting power beyond that provided with an eligible monthly paid subscription. The subscription provides access to RLETV subscription services in addition to the voting benefit. Subscription pricing, billing frequency, renewal terms, cancellation terms, and applicable subscription conditions will be disclosed during the subscription process. 6. WHEN BONUS VOTES BECOME AVAILABLE For a user who is not already an active paid subscriber, the subscription opportunity may be presented after the user's free vote has been successfully submitted. If the user purchases an eligible RLETV subscription during an active voting period and the subscription is successfully activated, the ten (10) subscriber bonus votes may become available for use during that voting period. Existing eligible paid subscribers may receive their applicable subscriber bonus votes during each voting period while their subscription remains active and in good standing. Bonus votes must be used before the applicable voting period closes. 7. CONTESTANT SUBSCRIPTIONS Contestants are not required to purchase a paid RLETV subscription. Purchasing or maintaining an RLETV paid subscription does not provide a contestant with additional points, preferential judging, enhanced eligibility, guaranteed advancement, or any other direct competitive advantage based solely upon the contestant's status as a paid subscriber. Contestants may not use subscriber bonus votes to vote for themselves. The Sponsor may establish additional reasonable restrictions concerning voting by contestants, members of a contestant's team, Sponsor personnel, judges, contractors, or other persons associated with administration of the Competition. 8. VOTE ALLOCATION An eligible voter may allocate available votes among eligible contestants as permitted by the RLETV voting interface. Unless otherwise stated for a particular voting period, a voter is not required to allocate all available votes to the same contestant. The voting interface and applicable voting-period instructions will control the mechanics for allocating available votes. 9. SUBSCRIPTION DOES NOT GUARANTEE A CONTESTANT'S ADVANCEMENT Purchasing an RLETV subscription provides eligible subscriber bonus voting opportunities but does not guarantee that any contestant will advance, become a finalist, or win RLE NEXT UP. Fan Support represents only a portion of the overall competition scoring framework. Contestants remain subject to the complete judging and evaluation criteria contained in these Official Rules. 10. VOTING INTEGRITY AND PROHIBITED CONDUCT Votes must be cast by eligible human users through authorized RLETV voting functionality. The following are prohibited: automated voting, bots, scripts, macros, or other automated processes; creating fraudulent or fictitious accounts; manipulating account, device, payment, or identity information to obtain additional votes; exploiting technical vulnerabilities or errors; vote trading or vote manipulation schemes prohibited by the Sponsor; unauthorized purchasing or creation of accounts for the purpose of circumventing voting limits; interference with RLETV voting systems; any other activity Sponsor reasonably determines compromises the integrity of the Competition. Sponsor may investigate suspicious voting activity and may invalidate votes reasonably determined to have resulted from fraud, automation, manipulation, technical exploitation, or violation of these Official Rules. Sponsor may suspend voting privileges or disqualify a contestant when there is sufficient evidence that the contestant knowingly directed, coordinated, materially participated in, or knowingly benefited from prohibited voting manipulation. 11. REFUNDS, CANCELLATIONS, AND VOTES RLETV subscription cancellation and refund rights are governed by the applicable RLETV subscription terms and applicable law. Subscriber bonus votes have no monetary or cash value, are nontransferable, and may not be redeemed for cash. Cancellation of a subscription does not convert unused bonus votes into cash, credit, or any other form of compensation. Sponsor may invalidate bonus votes associated with a payment that is reversed, charged back, determined to be fraudulent, or otherwise not successfully completed, subject to applicable law. 12. TECHNICAL ISSUES Sponsor is not responsible for votes that cannot be submitted because of network outages, device failures, interrupted Internet service, platform outages, or other circumstances outside Sponsor's reasonable control. If a material technical error affects voting integrity, Sponsor may pause voting, extend a voting period, restore verified voting opportunities, invalidate affected votes, or take another reasonable corrective action designed to preserve the integrity of the Competition. Sponsor will not arbitrarily alter valid voting results. 13. FAN SUPPORT SCORING Fan Support accounts for 25% of the applicable overall competition score. All valid free votes and valid subscriber bonus votes will be included in determining Fan Support results according to the scoring methodology announced for the applicable stage of the Competition. The existence of subscriber bonus votes does not change the weighting of Fan Support beyond the established 25% unless the Official Rules are formally amended before the affected competition stage and appropriate notice is provided. 14. DISCLOSURE OF PAID VOTING BENEFIT Where reasonably practical, RLETV voting interfaces and promotional materials discussing fan voting will disclose that: Every eligible verified RLETV user receives one free vote per voting period. Eligible paid RLETV subscribers receive ten additional bonus votes per voting period. A paid subscription is not required for an artist to enter or compete in RLE NEXT UP. Sponsor will not represent that free and paid RLETV accounts have identical fan voting privileges. 15. RULES VERSION AND ACCEPTANCE These revised provisions are incorporated into RLE NEXT UP Season 1 Official Rules Version 1.0 before the commencement of Season 1 public voting. The version presented to each contestant at acceptance will be stored together with the contestant's acceptance record, user identification, date and time of acceptance, and applicable Rules Version. Any material amendment made after contestant acceptance will be identified by a new Rules Version and communicated as required by the Official Rules and applicable law. All other provisions of the RLE NEXT UP Season 1 Official Rules Version 1.0 remain in effect unless expressly modified by these revised provisions.

Tie-Breaking

If contestants are tied at an advancement cutoff, the tie is resolved in the following order: (1) higher Music / Artist Quality score; (2) higher Performance / Weekly Challenge score; (3) higher Growth & Marketability score; (4) higher RLETV Fan Support score; (5) higher RLE Executive Evaluation score. If a tie remains after applying all criteria, tied contestants may be required to complete an additional judged performance or challenge. Random selection will not be the primary tie-breaking method.

Fraud

Prohibited activity includes bots, automated voting, artificial streaming, purchased fake followers, fake RLETV accounts, duplicate voting accounts, false identities, manipulated referrals, unauthorized scripts, hacking, falsified analytics, coordinated fraudulent voting, and deliberate interference with another contestant. Suspicious activity may be excluded from Competition calculations while reviewed. A contestant will not automatically be disqualified merely because suspicious activity appears associated with that contestant — RLE may investigate whether the contestant caused, encouraged, knowingly participated in, or knowingly benefited from the prohibited conduct. RLE may use reasonable technical and administrative measures (account verification, unique-user activity, device/security signals where available, referral information, voting activity, engagement patterns, fraud indicators) to distinguish legitimate fan activity from artificial activity. Repeated page refreshes, automated activity, bots, fictitious accounts, or similar manipulation do not create unlimited eligible Competition credit. A legitimate account may not generate unlimited referral credit; contestants may not create or purchase fraudulent registrations.

Disqualification

Grounds for disqualification may include: fraud; material misrepresentation; ineligibility; failure to own or obtain required content rights; Competition manipulation; serious harassment or threats; sabotage; material violation of these Rules; failure to complete required Competition activities; material violation of applicable RLETV terms; failure to remain eligible; failure to participate in required finalist activities; or conduct materially compromising Competition integrity. Where reasonably practicable, RLE will investigate before making a final disqualification decision.

Music Rights

Contestants may submit only content they own, control, or are legally authorized to use, and are responsible for obtaining necessary permissions from applicable producers, songwriters, featured artists, publishers, master owners, beat licensors, sample owners, photographers, videographers, or other rights holders. Participation does not by itself transfer ownership of a contestant's master recordings, compositions, publishing, trademarks, artist name, or other intellectual property to RLE. Any ownership transfer must arise from a separate applicable written agreement.

Publicity

Contestants authorize RLE and RLETV to photograph, film, record, livestream, interview, and document their Competition participation. RLE may use a contestant's legal name, artist name, image, likeness, voice, biography, approved Competition performance, and Competition participation for Competition administration, programming, publicity, promotion, recaps, social media, RLETV content, and historical documentation, subject to applicable law. Each Final Four contestant must execute the applicable Finalist Acknowledgement before participating in the in-person finale, which may address travel, hotel, transportation, scheduling, rehearsal, performance, wardrobe, filming, recording, photography, livestreaming, interviews, publicity, conduct, venue requirements, security, and guest policies. Acceptance will be separately recorded. The Winner may also be required to execute reasonable documentation relating to eligibility, prize receipt, tax reporting, publicity, and Competition compliance — the Winner Acknowledgement is separate from the RLE recording agreement.

Travel

The RLE NEXT UP Season 1 Finale is scheduled for Saturday, February 13, 2027 in Houston, Texas; the specific venue will be announced to Finalists and publicly when finalized. The finale may include interviews, live performances, original music, final challenges, fan voting, judge evaluation, and RLE Executive Evaluation. Final voting will close at the time announced by RLE, and Competition results will be verified before the Winner is announced. For Finalists residing outside the Houston area, RLE will provide reasonable round-trip economy airfare or approved ground transportation and hotel accommodations for the required finale period; travel arrangements must be approved or booked through the process designated by RLE. RLE does not pay companion travel. Unless RLE expressly states otherwise in writing, contestants are responsible for meals, personal expenses, baggage fees, incidentals, entertainment, companion expenses, and other costs not specifically identified as being provided by RLE. Finalists must comply with reasonable travel and scheduling requirements.

Taxes

The Winner and contestants are responsible for applicable federal, state, and local taxes associated with prizes or benefits to the extent required by law. RLE may require tax documentation and may report prizes as required by law. RLE may internally determine and document the fair market value of non-cash prizes when required for accounting, tax, reporting, or legal purposes.

Conduct

Contestants are expected to act professionally. Contestants may not: threaten or harass participants, fans, judges, or staff; sabotage another contestant; manipulate Competition systems; impersonate RLE representatives; misrepresent Competition results; falsely claim sponsorship or endorsement; or engage in conduct intended to compromise Competition integrity. Nothing in these Rules prohibits lawful criticism, legitimate complaints, reporting of concerns, or legally protected activity. RLE is not responsible for ordinary internet outages, contestant-device failures, telecommunications interruptions, or technical problems outside RLE's reasonable control. If an RLETV technical failure materially affects Competition scoring or participation, RLE may take reasonable corrective action (restoring verifiable eligible activity, extending a deadline, reopening a voting period, recalculating affected scores, allowing resubmission, or another reasonable corrective measure), which should be documented. If fraud, technical failure, legal requirements, safety concerns, force majeure, or circumstances outside RLE's reasonable control materially impair the Competition, RLE may modify, postpone, suspend, or cancel affected Competition activities to the extent permitted by law. RLE will not silently alter published material Competition terms — material changes are handled through the Official Rules version-control process, and contestants may be required to accept a new Rules Version where appropriate.

Content Rights

By participating, contestants grant RLE and RLETV a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license during the Competition and thereafter for archival, historical, promotional, publicity, and Competition-related purposes to host, reproduce, display, stream, publicly perform, distribute, excerpt, format, and promote submitted Competition content as reasonably necessary to operate, document, advertise, recap, and promote RLE NEXT UP, RLETV, and the contestant's participation. This Competition license does not transfer ownership of the underlying master recording or musical composition to RLE. Separate commercial exploitation outside the scope of the Competition requires applicable rights or a separate agreement.

Privacy

Competition information will be handled in accordance with applicable RLETV privacy terms and these Official Rules. Information may be used for legitimate purposes including Competition administration, eligibility verification, communication, referral attribution, voting, scoring, analytics, fraud detection, prize administration, finale administration, and legal compliance. Security and fraud-investigation information will remain private except where disclosure is legally required.