New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ BigMouth PR) Interscope Records, a division of Universal
Music Group, is kicking off a partnership with social commerce startup, Moontoast, by launching a Facebook campaign for American Idol Season 10 finalist Haley Reinhart's return to the Idol stage this Thursday, March 22nd where she will perform her single "Free." Reinhart's debut album Listen Up! will be released May 22nd and will be available for pre-order on Facebook using Moontoast's Social Store at www.facebook.com/HaleyReinhart before, during, and after the Idol performance, enabling fans to purchase directly from within the social network, and share the offer with friends.
"Universal is a world class company that understands the importance of the social revolution that increasingly connects their artists directly to their fans"
This campaign represents Universal
Music Group's increased focus on direct-to-consumer offers, and social commerce in particular, where Moontoast is an industry leader. Moontoast's patent-pending Social Analytics Suite will gather data to tell a more complete story of the campaign, beyond transactions, to help digital teams understand what messaging fans react to and how to craft future special offers in the social space.
"Universal is a world class company that understands the importance of the social revolution that increasingly connects their artists directly to their fans," said Moontoast CEO Blair Heavey. "Partnering with Moontoast's Social Activation Engine allows these artists to acquire new fans, engage and interact with existing fans and drive results from those interactions."
"At Interscope we are always searching out innovative ways to make the consumer experience of purchasing content simple and efficient. Moontoast offers an excellent social commerce solution which allows the artist, in this case Haley, to go directly to where the fans are engaged online," said Gary Kelly, Head of Sales for Interscope.
Noting the direct to consumer marketplace is evolving at a rapid pace, Randy Malinoff, VP D2C eCommerce at Universal
Music Distribution said, "As consumers are shopping for their favorite artist merchandise on Facebook, we are pursuing the delivery of engaging eCommerce technology products like Moontoast, backed by campaigns that connect our products to the fans."
Moontoast was named the #2 music startup of 2011 by Billboard Magazine and has powered previous pre-orders for Universal, including Vince Gill's recent release, Guitar Slinger.
About Moontoast
Moontoast is the leading social commerce platform for affinity brand retailers, musicians, athletes, celebrities, & authors. Moontoast's Social Activation Engine enables brands to effectively focus their social efforts on relationships, relevancy and results. With Moontoast, brands activate their fans to interact in social networks like Facebook and Twitter and content networks where the brand is a beacon. For more information, visit www.moontoast.com.
About Universal
Music Group
Universal
Music Group is the world's leading music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 59 territories. Its businesses also include Universal
Music Publishing Group, the industry's leading global music publishing operation.
Universal
Music Group's record labels include A&M/Octone, Decca, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammophon, Disa, Emarcy, Fonovisa, Geffen Records, Interscope Records, Island Records, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Motown Records, Polydor Records, Universal
Music Latino, Universal Republic and
Verve Music Group as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal
Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the industry, which includes the last 100 years of the world's most popular artists and their recordings. UMG's catalog is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal
Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal
Music Group also includes Global
Digital Business, its new media and technologies division and Bravado, its merchandising company.
Universal
Music Group is a unit of Vivendi, a global media and communications company.
