NEW YORK, NY. & SAN FRANCISCO, CA. (Top40 Charts/ UMG) - Universal
Music Group (UMG) and imeem today announced an agreement that will provide the imeem community with on-demand, interactive streaming of Universal's extensive digital music and video catalog. With this announcement, imeem is the first social networking company to offer full-length, streaming access to the entire music and video catalogs of all four major music companies on an advertising-supported basis.
Beginning today, imeem's audience of over 19 million users can listen to and express themselves with music and video from UMG's digital catalog, which includes many of the world's top-selling artists such as Kanye West, Amy Winehouse, Fall Out Boy, 50 Cent, Black Eyed Peas, The Pussycat Dolls, Gwen Stefani, The Killers, Snow Patrol, Maroon 5 and Nelly, among many others.
'Universal Music Group is committed to exploring new ways for consumers to discover and enjoy our artists' music online,' stated Doug Morris, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of UMG. 'imeem has developed an innovative way to make our artists' music a central part of the social networking experience. More importantly, they've done so the right way - by working with UMG to provide an exciting musical experience for consumers, while ensuring that our artists are fairly compensated for the use of their works.'
'This is a significant step forward for imeem and a defining moment for social networking and ad-supported music,' commented Dalton Caldwell, founder and CEO of imeem. 'imeem has pioneered a way to bring fans, bands and brands together in a way that's good for everyone. Our agreement with UMG will make imeem's media-centric experience even more compelling and firmly establishes our position as the leading social media network.'
Today's news is a milestone for imeem's ad-supported social music and media model, which enables artists, labels, studios, and media companies to make their music and video freely available for interactive streaming to the imeem community and share in the advertising revenue. imeem's ad-supported model also gives brands and businesses new ways to connect and interact with a highly-engaged audience of millions of consumers in the 24-and-under youth demographic. A number of the world's largest brands and companies, including Apple, Nike, Microsoft, AT&T Wireless, Toyota Scion, T-Mobile and Puma, are currently working with imeem on advertising and brand sponsorships.
imeem now offers millions of songs and videos from all four major music companies and thousands of independent labels. imeem users can upload their favorite music, video and photos, search for and stream full-length audio and videos on-demand, and easily find new content through social discovery features. The imeem community can also express themselves with their favorite content by creating and sharing custom music and video playlists with friends and fans on imeem and on third-party sites across the Web.
