Bebo Signs New Global Head of Music

Bebo Signs New Global Head of Music

Former MTV & BBC Exec Angel Gambino to Drive Music Strategy for Global Social Network

LOS ANGELES and LONDON, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Bebo, the UK's leading social networking site, today announced the appointment of Angel Gambino to the newly-created position of Vice President, Music.

In her new role, Ms. Gambino will be responsible for helping artists and labels to harness the power of Bebo's base of 31 million users worldwide, enabling them to extend their reach and form one-to-one relationships with their audience. She will also have responsibility for devising innovative partnerships between artists and brands and retailers.

Ms. Gambino will be based at Bebo's international headquarters in London.

Welcoming Ms. Gambino's appointment, Joanna Shields, President - International of Bebo, said:

"More than 450,000 artists of every kind -- from unsigned amateurs to internationally recognized groups -- are using Bebo as a way to market themselves and build a fan base. The appointment to the company of an executive of the calibre of Angel Gambino reflects our commitment to ensuring that we develop long-term strategic partnerships with the music industry by driving young people to experience and purchase music and by connecting artists with brands. The result is new revenue streams for record labels, new fans for artists and a better experience for music lovers."

"I'm passionate about music and so are Bebo's 31 million users and music fans," said Angel Gambino. "Content rich profiles offer a real opportunity to combine the interests of both artists and their fans. By working together with music labels to develop one to one relationships between bands and their audiences, and by helping new bands get discovered, we're creating a place where music can thrive."

Bebo has more than 450,000 bands registered on its site which makes it incredibly easy for great talent to spread. Bebo signed a deal last month with digital music company 7digital for a new widget that will allow Bebo's 31 million users to share their music tastes. In-line with Bebo's policy the partnership will enable users to legitimately download music licensed by 7digital directly from their Bebo user profiles.

Ms. Gambino joins Bebo from her role as VP Commercial, Strategy and Digital Media at MTV where she was responsible for Viacom UK's strategy and commercial activities. This included work for MTV Networks' UK business, encompassing its expansion into digital media through IPTV, VOD, mobile and gaming. Gambino was the chief architect behind the user-generated music channel, MTV Flux, which launched in August 2006. She was also responsible for extending the BBC's television channels and radio stations to mobile, broadband and on-demand in her earlier role as Controller, Business Development and Emerging Platforms.

About Bebo

Bebo is a global social networking website which aims to bring together like minded individuals who are creative, expressive and socially aware. Bebo has over 31 million members worldwide and is the largest social network in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand and one of the top 3 social networks in the US, Canada and Australia. Over 90% of Bebo users are under the age of 35 and the site is one of the fastest growing on the Internet, with 5 users signing up each second.

Bebo is also one of the world's most engaging websites, ranked #3 in the UK after Google and MSN*.

Bebo won the People's Choice award in the Social Networking category at the 2006 Webby awards and was named as the number one search term in the Year- End Google Zeitgeist 2006.

Bebo was founded in 2005 by Michael and Xochi Birch.

*Source: comScore World Metrix

Media Contact:
Martha Shaughnessy
Atomic Public Relations
415.402.0230
martha@atomicpr.com

Source: Bebo

CONTACT: Martha Shaughnessy of Atomic Public Relations, +1-415-402-0230,
or martha@atomicpr.com, for Bebo

Web site:

http://www.bebo.com/

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