Rhapsody Selects Droga5 and Optimedia US to Lead Advertising Initiatives

Rhapsody Selects Droga5 and Optimedia US to Lead Advertising Initiatives

Droga5 Named Ad Agency of Record for the Rhapsody Brand; Optimedia US Selected as Media Buyer

NEW YORK, March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Rhapsody(R) America, the joint venture from MTV Networks and RealNetworks(R) (NASDAQ:RNWK) offering the market's leading digital music service, has selected advertising agency, Droga5, and media buying and planning agency, Optimedia US, to lead the U.S. brand advertising and media planning for the Rhapsody service. Harnessing Droga5's creative expertise and Optimedia's strength in media buying, the companies are working together to create an innovative, multi-million dollar advertising campaign to build the Rhapsody brand and raise consumer awareness for Rhapsody's true "music wherever you are, whenever you want it" experience.

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"The Rhapsody brand is poised for growth and we're confident that our partners, Droga5 and Optimedia US, will help us raise awareness among music fans about the best way to connect with the music and the artists they love," said Neil Smith, vice president of marketing for Rhapsody. "Droga5's successful track record working with hip, big-name brands and Optimedia's thorough approach to advertising across all media makes for a powerful combination that will maximize the effectiveness of our advertising efforts."

"Rhapsody is a remarkable service that instantly changes the way you think about music," said David Droga, Creative Chairman of Droga5. "We're creating an integrated campaign that fully communicates the emotional power of the Rhapsody experience."

The newest Droga5-produced Rhapsody spot begins airing this week and features music from the Indie-pop act Throw Me the Statue. The spot highlights all the ways Rhapsody weaves music throughout everyday life with a variety of Rhapsody-enhanced devices and will run through Q2 2008.

The new Throw Me the Statue Rhapsody creative builds on the success of the recent Droga5-produced ad featuring emerging artist Sara Bareilles. That inspired ad captured the spontaneous and satisfying music discovery experience Rhapsody offers and drove unprecedented interest in Sara Bareilles on Rhapsody and reinvigorated both physical and digital download album sales for the new artist.

Optimedia US will develop overall strategy for and the implementation of national broadcast, online and print media buys for Droga5-developed creative. The current wave of Rhapsody brand campaign television spots that combine the efforts of Droga5 and Optimedia US break this week and will appear on channels including MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central.

Added Antony Young, president, Optimedia US, "Rhapsody is poised to be one of the most influential companies in the music business, and we are developing innovative media programs to drive adoption of this service by consumers."

A second major Droga5-produced campaign featuring world-class directors will debut in Q3-4 over multiple Viacom properties, and will continue to showcase the Rhapsody experience along with the suite of innovative Rhapsody- enhanced in-home and portable music devices.

Rhapsody delivers five million songs a day to music lovers through more consumer touch points than any other service. Through partnerships with industry leaders like TiVo, Philips, SanDisk, Logitech and Sonos, Rhapsody has created a complete digital music experience on the PC, throughout the home and on the go. Rhapsody offers consumers unlimited access to millions of songs, professionally programmed music channels and exclusive content from MTV Networks' premier MTV, VH1 and CMT music brands.

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ABOUT RHAPSODY

Rhapsody(R) offers an integrated and immersive digital music experience accessible to consumers via their computer, portable music device and soon their mobile phone. Rhapsody is the exclusive digital music service for RealNetworks(R) and for MTV Networks' music and pop-culture brands in the United States. Rhapsody is a service of Rhapsody America LLC, a joint venture between MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B) and RealNetworks (NASDAQ:RNWK).

ABOUT DROGA5

Droga5 (Droga5.com) is an independent advertising agency headquartered in New York. Led by Creative Chairman David Droga, the former Worldwide Creative Officer of the global Publicis Groupe. Droga5 clients include Unicef, Ecko Unlimited, Pernod Ricard, Esquire, TracFone, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, and VB beer.

ABOUT OPTIMEDIA US

Optimedia US (http://www.optimedia-us.com/) is a media agency that specializes in integrated marketing communications strategies. Its proposition is summed up in the expression "Never Settle, Never Stop ... " Optimedia is an agency that loves to challenge. With offices in New York, Dallas, Indianapolis, San Francisco and Seattle, Optimedia works on such clients as T- Mobile, Nestle, L'Oreal, Lancome, Sanofi-Aventis and British Airways. Optimedia is owned by Publicis Groupe, the largest media agency services group in the US. It is part of the ZO Worldwide Network.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: meggers@real.com

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Source: Rhapsody America

CONTACT: Ronda Scott of RealNetworks, +1-415-934-2016, rscott@real.com

Web site:

http://www.realnetworks.com/
http://www.droga5.com/
http://www.optimedia-us.com/

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