BlackPlanet.com to Be the Presenting Sponsor of the 2009 Soul Beach Music Festival

BlackPlanet.com to Be the Presenting Sponsor of the 2009 Soul Beach Music Festival

Unique Contest to Give One Lucky BlackPlanet Member the Opportunity to Perform Live at the Festival Memorial Day Weekend in Aruba

NEW YORK, April 15 /PRNewswire/ -- InteractiveOne, LLC The Digital Connection For Black America, today announced that BlackPlanet, the premiere African American social network will be the presenting sponsor of the 2009 Soul Beach Music Festival, which will take place in Aruba May 20-25, 2009. The festival will take place over Memorial Day Weekend in Aruba's sun-kissed paradise with five days of spectacular events. Soul music lovers from around the world will enjoy sizzling beach parties, hot nightclubs and live concerts from artists including Jamie Foxx, Estelle, Wayne Brady, Robin Thicke, Etana and Common.

One lucky BlackPlanet member will be granted the opportunity to perform live at the Soul Beach Music Festival. The Soul Beach Music Contest is looking for the best in the underground soul market to enter a unique competition to win the opportunity of a lifetime. BlackPlanet users have until April 20, 2009 to enter submissions at www.blackplanet.com/soulbeach where they can upload a performance video that best showcases their sound. A BlackPlanet judging committee will evaluate the entries based on performance, creativity, personality, and overall vocals and will select twenty finalists. On April 27, 2009 videos from the 20 finalists will be presented on BlackPlanet.com where the voting will be open to the public and Soul enthusiasts around the nation will have five days to vote for their favorite stars. Each vote will be submitted through a premium text messaging service (each text costs $.99) and will automatically enter the voter to win an all expense paid trip for two to the 2009 Aruba Soul Beach Music Festival courtesy of BlackPlanet.com. The grand prize winners for both contests will be announced on May 8, 2009.

"We are thrilled to partner with Mark Adkins and the Ninth Annual Soul Beach Music Festival. The contest we have developed provides a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase the musical talents of our BlackPlanet members and to offer them the opportunity of a lifetime," said Maria Weaver Watson, Director of Strategic Marketing for Interactive One.

For more information on the Ninth Annual Soul Beach Music Festival presented by BlackPlanet.com, please call 1.877.238.6843 or visit www.aruba.com or www.soulbeach.net.

ABOUT INTERACTIVE ONE

Interactive One draws in over 18 million members, with over 9 million monthly unique visitors and more than 8 billion annual page views and features member aggregated news, events, video, photo sharing and social networking, along with groups, forums, and blogs. Content sites in the network include: NewsOne (www.NewsOne.com), which provides up to the minute, comprehensive coverage of newsworthy events relevant to African Americans across the country and the world through syndicated news, original news reports, local content and opinion blogs from some of the most provocative minds in Black America. TheUrbanDaily (www.TheUrbanDaily.com), serves as the eyes and ears for African-Americans looking for a one-stop, comprehensive destination for entertainment news, information, gossip and opinion and original celebrity interviews. HelloBeautiful (www.HelloBeautiful.com), celebrates the lives and style of African-American women with a dynamic daily mix of fashion, beauty, entertainment and relationship content. Interactive One will launch additional sites to focus on health, empowerment and provide tools to uplift the community.

Interactive One was launched by Radio One in 2007 to complement Radio One's existing portfolio of media companies targeting the African-American community. Since its launch, Interactive One has quickly become the #1 online platform for the African American community, serving more than 9 million users. Interactive One is powered by the mission to create an online community that engages and positively impacts the lives of African Americans.

ABOUT RADIO ONE

Radio One, Inc. (www.radio-one.com) is one of the nation's largest radio broadcasting companies and the largest radio broadcasting company that primarily targets African-American and urban listeners. Radio One owns and/or operates 52 radio stations located in 16 urban markets in the United States. Radio One also owns Magazine One, which publishes Giant Magazine (www.giantmag.com), interests in TV One (www.tvoneonline.com), a cable/satellite network programming primarily to African-Americans, Reach Media (www.blackamericaweb.com), owner of the Tom Joyner Morning Show and other businesses associated with Tom Joyner, and Interactive One. The company is led by Chairperson and Founder Catherine L. Hughes, and her son, Alfred Liggins, III, who is Chief Executive Officer and President.

Source: InteractiveOne, LLC

CONTACT: Lee Rothchild, +1-212-981-5124, lee_rothchild@dkcnews.com

Web Site: http://www.blackplanet.com/soulbeach

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