EMI Music and Sony ATV Sign on to Groundbreaking 'MySpace Music' Joint Venture Alongside SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MySpace, the world’s premier social network, alongside its landmark joint venture partners which include EMI Music, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group (NYSE:WMG), and Sony ATV/ Music Publishing today unveiled the new ‘MySpace Music’ product (http://www.myspace.com/music) injecting the world’s richest online music community with a host of new features for both users and artists. MySpace Music will also incorporate the entire music catalogue from The Orchard (NASDAQ:ORCD), the global leader in independent digital music. The new suite of products, which includes an ever-growing catalogue of premium audio and video content, e-commerce offerings, and user and artist playlists, aims to further enhance the MySpace Music experience as well as provide monetization opportunities for its active music community.

Today’s announcement marks the first phase in an iterative global product rollout which will ultimately include a vast catalogue of premium and promotional content, a wide selection of new user-to-user sharing tools, digital e-commerce opportunities for artists, and ultimately sales of merchandise and concert tickets. Starting today, the new MySpace Music functionality currently available for U.S. MySpace users will also be available in Spanish and fully localized for the MySpace en Español community. Select products including the newly designed music player will be available globally to MySpace’s more than 120 million global users (comScore [July 2008]).

The first phase of the new MySpace Music unveils:

The new MyMusic personal music management toolset
Free and unlimited ad-supported, full-length audio streaming
Free and unlimited playlist functionality
Free discography and content catalogues for SONY BMG, UMG and WMG artists
DRM-free MP3 music e-commerce downloads powered by Amazon MP3
Ringtone e-commerce powered by Jamster

The ‘MyMusic’ toolset empowers the MySpace Music community in the U.S. to download, stream, and personalize their music content. The new product allows MySpace users to create playlists for both personal and public consumption and profile display, allowing profile visitors to stream all playlisted content on-demand and purchase MP3s of their favorite songs. Users can virally add a friend’s playlist to their own profile or take songs from a friend’s profile to their own.

In addition to managing and discovering new music, users will now be able to utilize MySpace Music’s enhanced search capability to browse and search for music by artist, song title, or album title. Users can freely stream their preferred content through a personal music player for a seamless listening experience while browsing MySpace or other websites.

Beginning today, U.S. users can purchase DRM-free MP3 music downloads through MySpace Music’s new e-commerce solution powered by Amazon MP3. Now, adjacent to licensed songs within artist profile media players, user-created playlists, and certain music editorial pages, MySpace Music will feature buy buttons that will allow users to download and purchase MP3s playable on all digital music devices, including the iPod. Similarly, users can click on a “Find Ringtones” button—powered by Jamster—within music players to purchase ringtones of their favorite artists.

The first four integrated sponsors to advertise on MySpace Music are McDonald’s, Sony Pictures, State Farm, and Toyota. These brands will be powering customers’ access to a host of new music services. McDonald’s will have presence on MySpace Music’s personal music player giving away a variety of free music downloads. To promote the opening of Sony Pictures’ comedy “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” the movie studio will be skinning all MySpace Music users’ profile playlists for an entire week with branding from the film. State Farm will have rotating ads among all pages including the Featured Playlist, the Personal Music Player, and MyMusic where members go to create and edit playlists. With “Toyota Tuesdays,” the auto company will offer free music downloads and have a strong presence on MySpace Music’s Personal Music Player every Tuesday for a year.

MySpace Music hosts more than 5 million major, indie, and unsigned artists within the site’s music profiles section, which provides for a vast artist-powered collection of songs, music videos, tour dates, blogs, and photos. MySpace’s deep, long-standing ties to the music community have allowed for numerous exclusive features from the most groundbreaking musicians in the world and the its new marketing initiatives will greatly enhance the existing MySpace Music offline concert franchises including Secret Shows, MySpaceLIVE!, Transmissions, Front to Back and The List.

MySpace Music executive quote sheet, screen shots, logos, b-roll, and fact sheets are available upon request at press@myspace.com.

About MySpace Music

MySpace Music is a landmark joint venture among MySpace, EMI Music, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony ATV, and whose independent music distribution partners include The Orchard, Alternative Distribution Alliance, RED, Fontana, and Caroline. MySpace Music, with more than five million artist profiles and 35 million monthly unique users, offers an ever-growing catalogue of freely streamable audio and video content, user-friendly e-commerce solutions, personal music players, and user and artist playlisting. MySpace Music aims to empower major, independent, and unsigned artists to monetize their content through multiple revenue streams. By allowing the MySpace community to freely stream premium content in an ad-supported environment, purchase MP3s and ringtones, create and share playlists, and ultimately buy merchandise, concert tickets, and other digital and physical goods. MySpace Music also connects artists and fans in the offline arena through various concert series and live events including Secret Shows, MySpaceLIVE!, Transmissions, Front to Back and The List.

About MySpace

MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., is the premier lifestyle portal for connecting with friends, discovering popular culture, and making a positive impact on the world. MySpace has created a connected global community by integrating web profiles, blogs, instant messaging, e-mail, music streaming, music videos, photo galleries, classified listings, events, groups, college communities, and member forums. MySpace’s international network includes more than 30 countries including United States, Brazil, Canada, Latin America, Mexico, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, India, Japan, and New Zealand. Fox Interactive Media is a division of News Corp. (NYSE:NWS) (NYSE:NWS.A) (ASX:NWS) (ASX:NWSLV).

About EMI Group

EMI Group Limited is one of the world’s leading music companies. Its recorded music division, EMI Music, represents artists spanning all musical tastes and genres through its record labels which include Angel, Astralwerks, Blue Note, Capitol, Capitol Nashville, EMI Classics, EMI CMG, EMI Records, EMI Televisa Music, Manhattan, Mute, Parlophone, and Virgin. EMI Music Publishing is the world’s most creative music publisher with more than one million copyrights including some of the best known songs ever written. Included in the EMI Music Publishing catalogue are iconic songs including New York New York, Over The Rainbow, I Heard It Through The Grapevine and Singin’ In the Rain.

About SONY BMG ENTERTAINMENT

SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT is a global recorded music joint venture with a roster of current artists that includes a broad array of both local artists and international superstars, as well as a vast catalogue that comprises some of the most important recordings in history. SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT is 50% owned by Bertelsmann A.G. and 50% owned by Sony Corporation of America.

About Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is the world’s leading music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 77 countries. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, the industry’s leading global music publishing operation.

Universal Music Group’s record labels include Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Disa, Emarcy, Fonovisa, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Philips, Polydor Records, Universal Motown Republic Group, Universal Music Latino, Universal Records South, 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 catalogue of music in the industry, which includes the last 100 years of the world’s most popular artists and their recordings. UMG’s catalogue 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 eLabs, its new media and technologies division; Bravado, its merchandising company; Twenty-First Artists, its full service management division; and Helter Skelter, its live music agency.

Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi, a global media and communications company

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group became the only stand-alone music company to be publicly traded in the United States in May 2005. With its broad roster of new stars and legendary artists, Warner Music Group is home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry including Asylum, Atlantic, Bad Boy, Cordless, East West, Elektra, Lava, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Rykodisc, Sire, Warner Bros., and Word. Warner Music International, a leading company in national and international repertoire, operates through numerous international affiliates and licensees in more than 50 countries. Warner Music Group also includes Warner/Chappell Music, one of the world’s leading music publishers, with a catalogue of more than one million copyrights worldwide.

About Sony ATV/ Music Publishing

Sony/ATV Music Publishing was established in 1995 as a joint venture between Sony and trusts formed by Michael Jackson. Sony/ATV Music Publishing owns or administers over 600,000 copyrights by such artists as The Beatles, Beck, Brooks & Dunn, Leonard Cohen, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, The Everly Brothers, Fall Out Boy, Jimi Hendrix, John Mayer, Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Linda Perry, Richie Sambora, Kraftwerk, Shakira, Akon, Wyclef Jean, KT Tunstall, and Diane Warren, among others. Sony/ATV recently acquired both the Leiber Stoller and Famous catalogues.

About The Orchard®

The Orchard (NASDAQ:ORCD) controls and globally distributes more than 1.3 million songs and over 5,000 video titles through hundreds of digital stores (e.g., iTunes, eMusic, Google, Netflix, V CAST) and mobile carriers (e.g., Verizon Wireless, Vodafone, Bell Canada, 3). With operations in 29 regions around the world, The Orchard drives sales for its label, retailer, brand, and agency clients through innovative marketing and promotional campaigns; brand entertainment programs; and film, advertising, gaming, and television licensing. A pioneer in digital music and media services, The Orchard fosters creativity and independence.