Universal Music Group (UMG) and Netbiscuits Announce Agreement to Expand UMG's Direct-to-Consumer Mobile Offerings

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Jan 29, 2010, 06:00 ET

NEW YORK, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Music Group (UMG), the world's leading music company, will further expand its line-up of direct-to-consumer mobile content and services for music fans through an agreement with Netbiscuits, the world's leading mobile publishing platform. The announcement was made today by David Ring, Executive Vice President of Business Development & Business Affairs for UMG's eLabs, and Ran Farmer, Managing Director of Netbiscuits Inc.

As part of this agreement, UMG will leverage Netbiscuits' market-leading B2B web software platform to launch mobile websites and services for UMG's broad array of chart-topping artists. By doing so, UMG will be opening up even more channels of content discovery and delivery to music fans everywhere. Through these artist-branded mobile websites, UMG will offer fans the ability to interact with other fans and to make purchases directly from their handset. Based on the mobile websites, Netbiscuits enables UMG to set up smart hybrid apps for all major platforms, including the iPhone, Android, and Windows Mobile devices.

"Universal is committed to providing consumers with even more engaging interactive opportunities to connect with their favorite artists and music by personalizing their mobile devices," stated Mr. Ring. "Thanks to the support we are getting from Netbiscuits, we'll be in an even better position to extend these artist opportunities and products across the widest array of available wireless devices. Through their exclusive technology, we'll be able to offer consumers truly engaging mobile music experiences, that include the chance to generate their own content, leaving comments, uploading pictures, and chatting with each other via these mobile sites. UMG will continue to lead the way in adopting the latest technology to offer fans the most dynamic interactive musical experiences possible."

UMG first began working with Netbiscuits in November 2009, when they collaborated on the successful launch of the mobile website for superstar rockers Bon Jovi (m.bonjovi.com).

"We're very excited to help Universal Music mobilizing so many of the world's most famous music artists," added Ran Farmer, Managing Director of Netbiscuits Inc. "All these artists going mobile means to me that the mobile web today really is a mass market phenomenon. Adding the right mobile commerce strategies and technologies to the mix finally paves the way for real revenues coming from the mobile channel."

Netbiscuits delivers any rich media content optimized for more than 6,000 different mobile devices worldwide. The platform enables a next generation user experience on the latest smart phones and provides optimized web content also for the long tail of web-enabled phones. For a 360 degree experience, Universal Music will also use the text messaging service suite that is integrated with the Netbiscuits platform to provide music lovers with SMS alerts whenever favorite artists are in town.

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 A&M/Octone, 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, Polydor Records, Universal Motown Republic Group, Universal Music Latino 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 Netbiscuits

Netbiscuits operates the world's leading B2B web software platform for the creation, operation and monetization of mobile websites. Customers are Yahoo and eBay, media companies like MTV, 3TV Malaysia, and RTL as well as international agencies like Ogilvy, Razorfish, and Isobar. Globally Netbiscuits delivers more than 1.5 billion mobile page impressions every month. Founded in 2000, the company has 85 employees in Germany, the USA, and Singapore.

The award winning Netbiscuits platform is available as a web-based software service. At www.netbiscuits.com all tools, interfaces and mobile enabling technologies are provided to develop, publish, monitor, and monetize professional mobile web services. By using Netbiscuits, media companies, agencies, retailers, brand owners, developers, and service providers achieve a faster path to profit from their mobile Internet programs.

In 2009 Netbiscuits won the internationally accepted ME Award for the "Best Mobile Publishing Platform," the company found its way into the ""Deloitte Technology Fast 50" and the management team was among the finalists of Ernst & Young's "Entrepreneur of the Year."

SOURCE Universal Music Group