The Catalyst distribution format music download
Background
From July 9, 2010 until July 25, 2010, Linkin Park (in collaboration with MySpace.com) held the contest "Linkin Park, Featuring You". In this contest, fans could download stems from the album's first single, "The Catalyst", remix the stems and/or write their own parts for the song on any instrument. The winner of this contest was Czesław "NoBraiN" Sakowski from Świdnica, Poland, whose remix was featured as an additional downloadable track on the Best Buy version of A Thousand Suns, and also available on Napster. The liner notes for A Thousand Suns also credit Sakowski with "Supplemental Programming" on "When They Come for Me", the album's fifth track.
The top 20 remixes that were selected by the band are being considered for future use as b-sides and online downloads, as seen in the "Linkin Park, featuring YOU Winner" episode of the band's LPTV series. Two of the remixes (by DIGITALOMAT and ill Audio) have since been released as via the band's webpage as free mp3 downloads, while two others (by Cale Pellick and DJ Endorphin) have been released via the iTunes EP version, released exclusively in Europe."The Catalyst" has also been featured in the trailer of the video game Medal of Honor, which premiered on August 1, 2010 and was directed by Joe Hahn. It was also featured in the game's end credits. The song was also featured in commercials of Discovery Channel's Shark Week in the summer of 2010.  It was also used during the 16th annual X Games competition. On September 15, 2010, Warner Music Japan announced that the song will be the official theme song of Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs.On August 31, 2010, it was announced that the band would perform the single live for the first time at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010. The venue of the debut live performance was Griffith Observatory, an iconic location used in Hollywood movies. However, the venue was held secret until the performance but was revealed to be a prominent landmark of Los Angeles.
The clip for the 2010 VMAs performance was shown at the 2017 edition, as a tribute to Bennington, who died a month before the awards show.
Speaking to MTV News when the single was released, bassist Dave Farrell would further elaborate how the sound of "The Catalyst" would end up fitting into the grander scheme of things when it came to the then-forthcoming album A Thousand Suns.
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