Universal Music Group (UMG) and Meebo Bring Real-Time Social Interaction to Music Videos

Universal Music Group (UMG) and Meebo Bring Real-Time Social Interaction to Music Videos

November 25, 2008 12:00 AM Eastern Time

NEW YORK & MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Universal Music Group (UMG), the world’s leading music company, and Meebo, the company that enables real-time social interactions, today announced that they have entered into an agreement to provide Meebo users with ad-supported videos from many of the most popular chart-topping artists in the world. Meebo will kick off the agreement by featuring artists Kanye West, Ludacris, and The Killers at meebo.com, where users will be able to view videos from the artists to promote their new albums. To augment the promotions, UMG will embed Meebo Rooms on official artist pages to enable real-time social interactions among fans.

Meebo has featured over 150 major artists at meebo.com. Most recently, these features have taken place in the company’s premium promotional space, the Meebo MediaBar. Artist features and advertising campaigns on Meebo log average click-through rates of 1%. Additionally, the MediaBar provides users with the ability to share the video campaigns seamlessly with their buddies at meebo.com. The agreement with UMG creates opportunities for Meebo users to enjoy premium content and gives UMG access to premium promotional space to create significant online buzz for their artists.

”Whether it’s rock from The Killers or hip-hop from Kanye West, Meebo users are extremely passionate about their music and enjoy sharing that premium content en masse with their friends,” said Martin Green, COO of Meebo. ”The partnership between Meebo and UMG gives our users the ability to engage with thousands of videos from the world’s largest music company.”

“UMG’s Video Syndication Program allows for music fans to access videos in fun and easy ways at affiliate websites,” said Larry Baach, Senior Vice President, Global Digital Initiatives, Universal Music Group. “Meebo, our latest affiliate, has a unique inter-operative IM feature that has captured the interest of a young, extremely loyal, and very active user base. UMG is always working toward better consumer experiences of our artists’ videos and we look forward to Meebo’s continued and inventive focus on music video.”

In addition to featuring new, hit videos on meebo.com, UMG will utilize Meebo Rooms to enable real-time social interaction for fans visiting UMG artists’ official web properties. In the past, UMG has used Meebo Rooms to power a number of popular events, including an online listening party for Kanye West’s Graduation album and a live chat with hip-hop icon LL Cool J. Since launching in May 2007, over 300 musicians have used Meebo Rooms in similar capacities, either by giving fans direct access to the artist, or providing a forum where fans can interact via chat while visiting an artist’s official website or social networking profile.

For information about partnering with Meebo, please visit meebo.com/partners.

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 Meebo, Inc.

Meebo is the Web’s live communications platform. Founded in September 2005, Meebo provides instant messaging and group chat to 40 million people at meebo.com and via partner sites across the Web. Meebo’s investors include Sequoia Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, JAFCO Ventures, Time Warner Investments, and KTB Ventures. Visit meebo.com to connect with friends live on the Web.

All brands, names, or trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

Vanessa