Youku and Universal Music Pair Up to Find Tomorrow's Super Band

Youku and Universal Music Pair Up to Find Tomorrow's Super Band

BEIJING, Oct. 20 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Youku and Universal Music launched on October 6th an online competition titled "Super Star Super Search 2009", which will help Universal Music to find outstanding young Chinese musicians to form the leading label's newest rock band.

Youku is a Beijing-based video-sharing website with more than 45 million unique visitors watching and uploading video clips every week. In August 2008, Youku's booming user base made it the seventh biggest destination website in China, based on a report from Nielsen/NetRatings.

"This is the very first time that a major record label is cooperating with an Internet video website to expand its artist pool in China," said Victor Koo, founder and CEO of Youku. "This joint initiative shows how Internet video has gone mainstream. A new generation of video-centric websites is going to eclipse the portals."

From October 6th, 2008 to January 10th, 2009, Internet users can upload video clips of their performances on Youku, while a series of offline competitions will be held in North America. Youku's visitors and a professional committee organized by Universal Music will vote for their favorite video clips at the same time. Meanwhile, Universal Music will mobilize its resources in Chinese art schools for this competition.

"We're reconsidering our relation with new media platforms like Youku," said Caralinda Booth, Artist and Repertoire Consultant of Universal Music, "In the old days, we defined new media as a potential business. But today, Universal Music considers it as a new bridge directly connected to our future stars that will broaden our landscape."

Fun Magazine, a Chinese magazine dedicated to youth art, and Pilot Records, an independent record label based in Beijing, are partners of "Super Star Super Search 2009".

About Youku

Youku ( http://www.youku.com/ ) is China's leading Internet video website and premier online video brand. It is the top destinations for Chinese people to watch and share videos all over the world.

In addition to user-generated content, Youku.com also works with more than 150 professional media partners to distribute online videos in China.

Youku.com was officially launched in December 2006, and now delivers more than 150 million video clips per day. Youku's users spend more than 30 billion minutes per month on the website.

For additional information, please contact:

Steven Lin
Manager of International Public Relations
Youku.com
Tel: +86-10-5885-1881 x7128
Email: steven@youku.com

Source: Youku

CONTACT: Steven Lin, Manager of International Public Relations of
Youku.com, +86-10-5885-1881 x7128, or steven@youku.com

Web Site: http://www.youku.com/

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