MySpace and Interscope Records to Launch 'MySpace Records'

[JIVE News]

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Community of 36 Million to Inform and Shape the Voice of Music at MySpace Records--MySpace, the leading lifestyle portal with more than 36 million members, has joined forces with Interscope Records to create MySpace Records, a new label and innovative model for the future of music development and marketing. The newly formed label will function with the flexibility and independence of an indie, sustained by the resources and strength of a major, enabling MySpace Records to support niche artists as well as break-through acts expected to become mainstream.

MySpace Records will leverage the website's 36 million member community to discover, sign and market emerging artists. By engaging and interacting with the impassioned online community, the new venture will connect the bands, their fans and the label in an unprecedented way. The label will tap into the website's booming online music network of more than 550,000 bands that use MySpace to post tour dates, respond to user comments and interact directly with their fans.

"MySpace is redefining today's culture and transforming the music business with its innovative way of connecting musicians to their fans," said Chris DeWolfe, CEO of MySpace. "Our new label is another example of how MySpace has truly become a lifestyle brand that transcends the online experience and impacts its users' offline lives in meaningful ways."

"Interscope is a label that exists on the cutting edge and our label partnership with MySpace will help shape the landscape for the next generation of the music business," said Courtney Holt, head of new media and strategic marketing at Interscope.

MySpace Records will operate as an independent label, structured with its own marketing, publicity and A&R business units, all designed to capitalize on the existing MySpace infrastructure. MySpace will invest in artist development for indie acts and share the development and production with Interscope Records on larger acts. Distribution will be optimized by using Interscope's industry leading existing channels and retail relationships.

"We are fortunate to have found a partner with not only a passion for music and artistry but also the drive and vision to expose great music in unimagined new ways," said Luke Wood, A&R executive at Interscope.

The first act to sign onto MySpace Records will be Hollywood Undead, a previously unknown band that emerged with a groundswell of fans directly from its usage of, and presence on, MySpace.com. In the past three months the band has leveraged its MySpace profile to develop a fan base of more than 65,000 friends that respond to blogs, send personalized comments and even show up to participate in offline events such as a recent video shoot in Hollywood.

"Word-of-mouth is the way people find about new music and MySpace enables this interaction on a massive scale. I found Hollywood Undead's profile the day they put it on MySpace, because of how fast they reached the top of the charts. It only took a few hours to realize this was the band that could launch MySpace Records," said Tom Anderson, president of MySpace as well as head of A&R and creative direction for the new label. "We're in a great position with Interscope being the most forward-thinking and progressive record company in the business--I couldn't imagine a better partner."

About MySpace.com

http://www.myspace.com/

MySpace.com is the premier lifestyle portal for networking online. By integrating web profiles, blogs, instant messaging, e-mail, streaming music, music videos, photo galleries, classified listings, events, groups, chatrooms, college communities and user forums, MySpace has created a connected community where users put their lives online. As the number fourth ranked web domain in terms of page views(a), MySpace.com is the most widely-used and highly regarded site of its kind with more than 36 million members. MySpace.com is committed to providing the highest quality user experience and will continue to innovate with new features that allow its users to express their creativity and share their lives, both online and off, with their friends.

(a) Among the top 2000 domains. comScore Media Metrix, August 2005. For more information on comScore Networks, please go to http://www.comscore.com/.

About Interscope Geffen A&M

http://www.interscope.com/

Combining the legacies of three significant record companies, Interscope Geffen A&M embarked on a new tradition of musical achievement with its combination on January 1, 1999, as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, the global music leader. Headed by Chairman Jimmy Iovine, Interscope Geffen A&M is a major force across a wide range of musical genres including rock, rap, pop, alternative, Latin, gospel and soundtracks. Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications company.