European Music Star Ayo Lends Her Voice to Promote Radio

European Music Star Ayo Lends Her Voice to Promote Radio

Ayo Adds Joyful Essence to Banana Republic Ad Campaign

NEW YORK, May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Singer-songwriter Ayo is the newest voice of Radio Heard Here's "New Music" series, a collection of interviews emphasizing the influence of radio as a critical medium for music discovery and community. More than 235 million listeners tune into radio every week and 42 million people listen to radio online.*

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090518/NY18194 )

Along with her role in the "New Music" spot, Ayo is featured in a new Banana Republic advertising campaign. Says Ayo, "Radio is like window shopping...Once you've heard something great, then you run to the store and buy it."

Adds Ayo, "Radio has had an incredibly strong influence on me, from introducing me to the vast world of music and helping to shape my knowledge of so many artists, to giving me an amazing soundtrack wherever I go," said Ayo. "I cannot imagine life without radio."

As with the other interviews in the series, Ayo's spot will be available as 30-second and 60-second versions, and will be fed to more than 900 AM/FM and HD radio stations across the country, and available for thousands more to download. In addition, video of Ayo's interview will be accessible at www.radioheardhere.com.

Ayo's debut CD Joyful (Interscope Records) was released to critical acclaim in 2007, and her follow-up CD, Gravity at Last, will be released in July. Singled out by music journalists worldwide for her "breezy blend of R&B and pop, reggae and folk" (People Magazine) and "effortless and focused" arrangements (The New York Times), Ayo was recently featured in the PBS concert special, "Ayo Live In Monte Carlo," on affiliates nationwide during their pledge week last December.

For more information about Radio Heard Here, please visit www.radioheardhere.com.

*Arbitron/Edison Media Research

About Radio Heard Here

Radio Heard Here, a coalition of the National Association of Broadcasters, the Radio Advertising Bureau and the HD Digital Radio Alliance, representing commercial radio stations across America, is a far-reaching, multiyear initiative designed to reignite the public's passion for radio. Radio maintains its integral and near-ubiquitous presence in American life reaching 235 million American weekly, despite the arrival of new communications and entertainment devices within the past 20 years. For more information, visit www.radioheardhere.com.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090518/NY18194
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN10
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Radio Heard Here

CONTACT: Cait Weiss, The MWW Group, Office, +1-212-827-3747, or Cell,
+1-201-478-2051, CWeiss@mww.com

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

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