REDWOOD CITY, CA. (Electronic Arts/ www.ea.com) - Electronic Arts and Cherry Lane
Music Publishing today announced that the two companies have teamed up to create Next Level
Music LLC, a music publishing company that will sign established as well as emerging new artists, acquire publishing catalogs, produce original music and further develop EA's rich catalogue of music.
EA will promote the music through its games while Cherry Lane
Music Publishing will administer the compositions and master recordings worldwide. Under the exclusive co-publishing partnership, the company will also license EA's existing music assets to commercials, films, film trailers, ring-tones and other commercial media.
While EA will continue to license music through EA(TM) TRAX, the creation of Next Level Music is a ground-breaking first in the games business. Next Level Music's role will be analogous to that of the major music publishing companies founded by the great motion picture studios during the last century.
Gamers will enjoy first-rate production values and A-list musicians while the artists will benefit from deep exposure to the core 18-34 demographic and increased promotion through unique commercial exploitation.
Cherry Lane, in addition to creating and acquiring new music for Next Level will be charged with the exploitation outside the gaming fraternity of EA's existing music catalogue which reaches back through twenty-two years of sound recordings including theme songs from such blockbuster video game titles as Medal of Honor, The Sims and the outstanding football franchise Madden NFL football.
Highlighting the EA catalogue are pieces from Mark Mothersbaugh, Paul Oakenfold, Chris Lennertz, Sean Callery, Mya and other notable artists.
"Video games have changed the way the world hears music and EA has led the way. We could not imagine a better partner in our new creative music venture than Cherry Lane. Together, we have the ability to acquire publishing catalogs of established artists and to sign and develop new artists and songwriters, providing them with unique opportunities for success,'" said Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Audio at EA.
"When it comes to interactive entertainment, EA is the best in the business. We like to think that we enjoy similar stature in the music publishing industry. The potential synergy is boundless," said Cherry Lane Music President, Aida Gurwicz.
"EA's video game empire affords us a unique platform upon which to build a great and diverse music publishing company, tapping every genre of contemporary music. It is our shared goal to develop a music publishing company that will not only be preeminent in the video game industry but will rival the best in the music publishing industry. We're psyched and can't wait to 'get in the game.'"
