Universal Music Group Distribution (UMGD) Expands Digital Services With TuneCore

Universal Music Group Distribution (UMGD) Expands Digital Services With TuneCore

LOS ANGELES, July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Music Group Distribution (UMGD), the award winning sales and marketing division of Universal Music Group, the world's leading music company, has entered into a strategic alliance with TuneCore, a leading digital music distribution company. The announcement was made today by Jim Urie, President & CEO of UMGD and Jeff Price, Founder & CEO of TuneCore.

As part of this agreement, TuneCore will provide and host distribution portals for UMG's labels as well as partner labels and artists. Further, as an artist's career grows, they may benefit from having a number of artist-discovery, marketing and upstreaming opportunities within the UMGD system.

This partnership further expands UMG's growing portfolio of strategic media alliances, while enhancing the services and opportunities that UMGD provides partner labels and artists. UMGD will also provide TuneCore's customers with a comprehensive menu of artist services, including licensing opportunities and professional audio mastering. Additionally, Guitar Center, also a TuneCore investor and strategic partner, will provide to UMGD access to its entire chain of over 200 stores nationwide as a non-traditional retail channel for the sale of physical product which includes select TuneCore artist titles.

"Our agreement with TuneCore highlights UMGD's commitment to a strong sales philosophy and long-term artist development," stated Mr. Urie. "UMGD is uniquely positioned to provide the most flexible and comprehensive digital and physical distribution, sales and marketing services in the industry, all of which results in more profitable opportunities for both our labels and our artists."

"Honestly, Universal is one of the most forward thinking record labels on the planet," commented Mr. Price. "With this deal UMGD has truly changed the rules and the major label model by providing true choice for a musician. If an artist is doing well, there is a direct line through which UMGD can extend its hand or, via the existing TuneCore model, the artist can choose to continue to succeed on their own. It is the continuation of the shift to serve the musician."

About Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is the world's leading music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 77 countries. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, the industry's leading global music publishing operation.

Universal Music Group's record labels include Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Disa, Emarcy, Fonovisa, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Philips, Polydor Records, Universal Motown Republic Group, Universal Music Latino, Universal Records South, and Verve Music Group as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the industry, which includes the last 100 years of the world's most popular artists and their recordings. UMG's catalog is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes eLabs, its new media and technologies division; Bravado, its merchandising company; Twenty-First Artists, its full service management division; and Helter Skelter, its live music agency.

Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi, a global media and communications company.

About TuneCore

TuneCore is a low, flat fee service that distributes music to iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody and many other major download and streaming sites while taking no rights and no revenue from the sale of the music. Artists are building careers, selling significant volumes of music and generating revenue through TuneCore. Since its launch in 2006, TuneCore has distributed tens of thousands of albums and millions of songs to iTunes and other digital stores by Grammy winners and unsigned artists alike. TuneCore artists include Drake, Beck, Jay-Z, Aretha Franklin, Keith Richards, Public Enemy, Nine Inch Nails, Ricky Skaggs, Paul Westerberg, MGM Studios, Warren G, Bjork, Moby, High School Musical cast members, Ali Lohan, Cirque Du Soleil, Starbucks and tens of thousands more. TuneCore currently distributes between 150 - 250 release a day (more music is released in one day via TuneCore than any major record label over a year) and recently expanded its offering to distribute full-length films, TV shows, live concerts, documentaries etc to iTunes and more.

Source: Universal Music Group

CONTACT: Maria Ho-Burge of Universal Music Group, +1-212-331-2569,
maria.ho-burge@umusic.com; or Nick Loss-Eaton, nlosseaton@shorefire.com, or
Matt Hanks, mhanks@shorefire.com, both of Shore Fire Media, +1-718-522-7171

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