iLike and TuneCore Join Forces to Help Independent Musicians Promote and Sell Their Music

SEATTLE & BROOKLYN, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--iLike, the leading social music discovery service, and TuneCore, the leading digital music distribution service, today kicked off a joint effort to help independent artists make money and get discovered – effectively becoming their own label.

“As the music industry continues to reinvent itself, we believe it’s critical to offer independent musicians equal opportunity alongside major-label artists.”

This unique alliance leverages TuneCore’s digital distribution model and iLike’s music promotion and discovery services to give independent artists a turnkey solution to distribute, promote and sell their music. With this initiative, independent artists can essentially be their own label, as follows:

• Distribution: TuneCore empowers any artist to distribute their music and videos worldwide to iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazonmp3, and other leading online music stores and subscription services while keeping 100% of the royalties.
• Marketing and Promotion: iLike offers a range of free and paid music-promotion services for artists to reach new fans on leading social networks and platforms across the Web.
• Making Money: Artists will also earn royalties when their music is streamed on iLike.com, Facebook, and other platforms where iLike is available.

How It Works:

By submitting their music via TuneCore, independent or established musicians can sell their music in all the major online stores and leading subscription services, including: iTunes; Amazon mp3; and through Rhapsody, on Yahoo, MTV and iLike.

After using TuneCore to easily and quickly distribute their music to Rhapsody, artists will earn royalties when their music is streamed not only on iLike.com but also on iLike’s unrivaled music syndication network, which provides music on Facebook®, hi5, Orkut, Bebo, iLike’s third-party developer platform (www.iLike.com/developer) and other leading channels across the Web.

“We are pleased to team up with TuneCore, a group that shares our commitment to unsigned artists, to create a real solution for indie musicians,” said Ali Partovi, CEO of iLike. “As the music industry continues to reinvent itself, we believe it’s critical to offer independent musicians equal opportunity alongside major-label artists.”

Jeff Price, founder and CEO of TuneCore, said, “This relationship is the first time that music discovery, promotion and sharing is directly connected to distribution outside of a traditional label. I was an iLike user far before I had the privilege of working with them. iLike helps music and musicians get discovered, get heard and get famous. TuneCore provides worldwide distribution of music and video to the stores where music fans go to buy it. Philosophically, we fit perfectly together – our common goal is to help the musician succeed under a new model."

Artists can learn more and sign up for a free account at TuneCore today at: www.tunecore.com/iLike

About iLike, inc

iLike is the Web's leading social music discovery service and the dominant music application on Facebook® and other leading platforms. With more than 30 million registered users, iLike helps people share music recommendations, playlists, and personalized concert alerts. The iLike Sidebar for iTunes and Windows Media Player suggests new music, creates automatic playlists, and connects people through music. iLike offers musicians and labels a convenient Artist Dashboard from which to reach fans and manage their presence across multiple channels including Facebook, iLike.com, iLike Sidebar plugins for iTunes and Windows Media Player, and iLike’s iPhone application. By leveraging iLike's vast database of music lovers and their favorite artists, iLike helps artists communicate with fans and cultivate the viral spread of their music. iLike, inc also runs indie music site GarageBand.com.

About TuneCore

TuneCore.com has changed the 100-year-old rules and model of the music business. It is a low, flat fee service that distributes anyone's music or videos to iTunes, eMusic, AmazonMP3 and many other major download sites while taking no rights and no revenue from the sale of the music. Artists are building careers, selling significant volumes of music and generating revenue while keeping their rights utilizing the new model created by TuneCore. In its 33 months since launch, TuneCore has distributed tens of thousands of albums and millions of songs to iTunes and other digital stores including Grammy winners, record labels and unsigned artists. Customers include Jay-Z, Keith Richards, Public Enemy, Nine Inch Nails, Ricky Skaggs, Paul Westerberg, MGM Studios, Warren G, Bjork, Moby, High School Musical cast members, Ali Lohan, Cirque Du Soleil, Starbucks and tens of thousands more. TuneCore currently distributes between 150 – 250 release a day (more music is released in one day via TuneCore than any major record label over a year) and recently expanded its offering to distribute full-length films, TV shows, live concerts, documentaries etc to iTunes and more. TuneCore’s own Billboard Top 25 seller chart went live in July 2008.

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc. iTunes® is a registered trademark of Apple Inc. Windows Media Player® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp.