Gracenote's Content Partner Program Tops 2,000 Members Representing More Than 20,000 Labels Worldwide

Gracenote's Content Partner Program Tops 2,000 Members Representing More Than 20,000 Labels Worldwide

Universal Music Group Signs On; Groundbreaking Program is Designed to Drive Sales for Record Labels, Content Aggregators, and Individual Artists

CANNES, France, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- MIDEM -- Gracenote(R) today announced its Content Partner Program now has more than 2,000 members from around the globe, from major labels such as Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, to independent labels and individual artists, representing more than five million recordings and 20,000 labels in 63 countries. Recently, Universal Music Group, The Orchard, IODA, IRIS Distribution, Discmakers/CDBaby, KOCH Entertainment, Consolidated Independent and hundreds of other labels joined the program, which is designed to help record labels, content aggregators, and individual artists build awareness, capture consumer interest and drive sales for their digital media through global distribution, automated marketing and commerce opportunities.

Gracenote's Content Partner Program members can upload, edit and lock the metadata for their releases such as song titles, product codes and audio fingerprints, which Gracenote then makes available in its music recognition and discovery products used by leading Web and mobile digital music services worldwide, including iTunes, Sony Ericsson and Omnifone. In 2008, more than 700 new members joined the program, representing hundreds of thousands of new albums. The program is open to major labels and distributors as well as independent labels and artists.

By participating in the program, members ensure that their complete catalogs are represented in all of Gracenote's products, and that Gracenote is better able to identify, recommend and link their music to purchase opportunities. For example, through Gracenote's Mobile MusicID(R), consumers can identify and discover songs wherever they hear them and are linked to retail offers from both digital and physical stores. Currently, Sony Ericsson's TrackID(TM) is powered and run by Gracenote's Mobile Music ID, which also ships on select LG handsets and is available on a variety of carriers worldwide, including AT&T and Virgin Mobile USA, KDDI in Japan, SKT and KTF in Korea, and France Telecom/Orange in Europe. More than 200 million consumers used Gracenote's mobile and other applications in 2008.

"By participating in the content partner program, labels and artists are taking advantage of one of the largest promotional platforms in the world," said Ross Blanchard, vice president of business development for Gracenote. "We prioritize partner data in all our consumer-facing products, which gives members a significant advantage in our recognition, recommendation and retail linking services."

Recognized as the industry standard for music recognition, recommendation and playlisting services, Gracenote licenses its technology to thousands of developers of consumer electronics devices and online media players around the world. Its services are available in the industry's most popular media players, home video and audio systems, car stereos, and mobile phones. Gracenote's Content Partner Program makes it easier for artists and labels to submit, edit and manage information about themselves or their artists, and reach millions of consumers through these digital media devices and applications.

Gracenote at MIDEM

Gracenote is participating in MIDEM conference this week and will be located in the MIDEM Suites in the Riviera Hall, Penthouse level, Suite 13. For more information about Gracenote's Content Partner Program please go to http://www.gracenote.com/contentpartner/.

About Gracenote

Gracenote, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, is a global leader in embedded technology, enriched content, and data services for digital entertainment solutions within the Internet, consumer electronics, mobile, and automotive markets. Formerly known as CDDB(R), Gracenote delivers a substantially improved consumer experience in digital media devices and applications, plus media monitoring and other data services to the recording industry, making it an integral part of the digital media economy. Gracenote powers leading services including Apple iTunes, Yahoo! Music, Winamp; home and automotive products from Alpine, Panasonic, Philips and Sony; and mobile music applications from Samsung, Sony Ericsson, KDDI (Japan), KTF (Korea), Musiwave (Europe), and others. Gracenote is headquartered in Emeryville, California. http://www.gracenote.com/corporate.

Gracenote, MusicID and CDDB are registered trademarks of Gracenote. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

For More Information Contact:
Veronica Skelton
Concept Communications for Gracenote
415-342-3435
veronica@conceptpr.net

Source: Gracenote

CONTACT: Veronica Skelton, Concept Communications for Gracenote,
+1-415-342-3435, veronica@conceptpr.net

Web site: http://www.gracenote.com/

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