USA / UTN – Yahoo! Music
Universal Television Network’s, USA Network, is the #1 cable network in America. Spencer Proffer has had a long term working relationship with USA, beginning with his production and co-writing of the key marketing song {“What I'm About”} used to launch USA’s Dean Koontz penned remake of the classic Frankenstein film. Thereafter, Spencer produced and co-wrote the theme to the USA series “Kojak”, starring Ving Rhames. In 2006, USA enlisted Proffer to architect and execute the “sound” of the Network with contemporary music. Proffer conceived and negotiated a venture with Virgin/EMI Records, utilizing Virgin emerging artists to sonically brand the network, in and around programming, 24/7 with online and download build outs and chyrons to help the public identify new music utilizing the networks’ vast real estate.
Spencer, USA and ISP partner Yahoo! have architected a new business model for the network to help launch emerging, unsigned artists’ careers via TV exposure on USA, UTN sister outlets, and on Yahoo! Music, the most trafficked music portal on the web. In the changing landscape of the music business, we have built a powerful, unique new win-win model for exposing/marketing emerging artists that will start their record deals off on the 50 yard line. Our model in effect puts artist development and marketing research on steroids when coupled with a solid record distributor’s efforts in coordination with ours.
We think that it’s pretty cool for a label to be able to sign an artist that comes loaded with both the #1 music ISP and one of the major network/broadcast groups- two billion dollar linebackers that punctuate the marketing and exposure of music in a huge way.
The first artist to be embraced by USA and Yahoo under this arrangement is the New York based modern rock band, FLYING MACHINES. Their musical style has a blend of elements reminiscent of highly musical, classic bands Queen, The Police, and ELO while being young, fresh and highly original. USA plans to embody their music as the driving sound under the million dollar media campaign to launch the new season of one the network’s hottest, highly rated shows in the first quarter of 2008. With USA being in over 95 million homes across America and Yahoo’s music reach being the most comprehensive of any online portal in the world, Flying Machines music will get a tremendous amount of exposure through these powerful platforms. The parties will also produce a performance video of the band which will appear on both companies’ web sites as well as that of the band.
USA NETWORK AND YAHOO! MUSIC ENTER INTO NEW MUSIC PACT FOR TELEVISION
# 1 Cable Network and #1 Online Music Site Create New Marketing Model and Development Hub To Discover and Promote Emerging Artists
New York, NY–- – USA Network and Yahoo! Music today announced that they have entered into an agreement to discover and promote new music and emerging artists through a non-traditional marketing model. The collaboration, the first of its kind for television, seeks to move beyond the boundaries of traditional marketing by enhancing USA Network’s slate of innovative programming and promotional content through relevant and breakthrough music.
“We’re thrilled to be involved in this innovative partnership that has the potential to create a new model for the way musical artists are discovered and developed,” said Chris McCumber, USA’s senior vice president, marketing & brand strategy. “We look forward to combining the resources and creative synergy of USA, Yahoo! Music and media architect Spencer Proffer to carve a unique sonic brand for the network.”
“As the music industry continues to evolve, the business of breaking artists depends on creative and integrated deals like this one,” said Jay Frank, vice president of programming and label relations, Yahoo! Music. “Yahoo! Music is in a unique position to identify unsigned talent and now has a partner with the reach, content and expertise to help develop the next big recording artist.”
Yahoo! Music, the #1 online music destination, is home to LAUNCHcast radio, the Web’s top radio service. Yahoo! Music will track consumer feedback and response to independent and unsigned artists on LAUNCHcast and will recommend well-performing artists and music to USA Network based on that research.
Under terms of the venture, USA Network will then sign the mutually agreed-upon performing artists, integrating them into the network for an incubation period. Music industry innovator Spencer Proffer of Meteor 17 will oversee the development and promotion of the artists along with USA Network and Yahoo! Music. USA will utilize the artists’ recordings for marketing and programming on the network and will benefit from a flexible source of new music for use on all platforms. Yahoo! Music will employ artists’ music for further exposure.
About USA Network
USA NETWORK is cable television's leading provider of original series and feature movies, sports and entertainment events, off-net television shows, and blockbuster theatrical films. The #1 basic cable network across the board , USA Network is seen in 90 million U.S. homes. The USA Network Web site is located at www.usanetwork.com. Characters Welcome.
USA Network is a program service of NBC Universal Cable a division of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.
About Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music is the #1 online music destination. Yahoo! Music offers more than 2 million songs for download as well as the tools to manage, explore and share music. Yahoo! Music provides a wide selection of streaming video and audio, the Web's largest collection of music videos, Internet radio, original content, exclusive features, artist information and news covering all genres of music to Yahoo! users.
Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
For More Information Contact:
Carrie Davis
Yahoo! Music
310.907.3774
carried@yahoo-inc.com
Yahoo! Music Helps USA Networks Discover Music for Television
60,000 albums are released yearly. How can any one break through the clutter to get noticed if you’re doing it independently? There are now hundreds of cable TV stations people can choose from. How can an unsigned artist even get to one of those for music placement? And how can I get big internet music players and cable channels to notice?
Well, the top internet music site and the top cable network are listening for new music. And we’re going to anoint the best with exposure that is unprecedented in the music business. Who are these power players? Well, Yahoo! Music is obviously one, I'm sure you already guessed. We just announced our partnership with USA Networks to find and break bands. Knowing the quality of the programming and the sheer millions of people who use each media outlet daily, we’re gonna do it.
Here’s how it works. Independent bands are submitting music for airplay on our #1 LAUNCHcast service by the van-load. It’s gotten so big in recent months that Will Abramson, our Assistant Music Director in charge of indie music, had to get his mailbox expanded to twice the size. I think the IT people are going to kill us as we keep expanding the maximum capacity of Outlook for him to handle the MP3 submissions. So we take those submissions and we add them to the LAUNCHcast player. Every last one of 'em, even if it sometimes takes us a few weeks to do so. We then watch how you, the Yahoo! Music radio listener, likes the song. If you really like it, we send a copy to USA.
They listen and, if they know that the music would work in the promos or episodes for any of their big hits such as Monk or Psyche, they call us and say “Let’s go!” We then play the record in LAUNCHcast while they play it on the TV network at the same time. With all those ears hearing the music, big buzz ensues and the artist is on their way to big success.
As someone who’s worked closely with artists for many years, I've really gotta tell you about the secret sauce. The deals we'll make are some of the most artist friendly I've ever seen. Spencer Proffer, who is running the venture for us and USA, has been in sync with us on ensuring that the artist is not tied to some horrible, onerous agreement. Listen to this. The artist retains the rights to their music. The artist is committed for a short period of time and if nothing happens they are free to go elsewhere. The artist retains creative control.
Who will the first artists be? We’re deciding now and we'll keep you posted. In the meantime, if you’re a LAUNCHcast user, here’s another great reason to rate the music you hear. You could influence what gets on USA Networks and gets signed! For artists, send Will your music. He might keep Red Bull in business if he has to find the time to listen to it all, but he loves it and he'll do it. For us? It’s just one more step in our continued support for music artists of all levels.
For additional information, read the following articles:
NBC Universal's Cable Networks Soar >>
USA Reigns Supreme in Second Quarter Cable Ratings >>
USA Edges Disney in 2Q Primetime-Ratings Race >>
USA Nabs Q2 Ratings Crown for First Time in Seven Years >>
TNT's NBA fizzle puts USA on top >>
Fox keeping it real >>
Cable Gets an Early Jump >>
Thursday could become even tougher >>