Universal Music Group (UMG) and Last.fm Partner for Music Videos

Universal Music Group (UMG) and Last.fm Partner for Music Videos

Last.fm to Feature Thousands of Videos Free-On-Demand from UMG Chart-topping Artists Including Jay-Z, Nirvana and Amy Winehouse, Among Many Others

NEW YORK, June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Music Group, the world's leading music company, and Last.fm, the fast-growing free global music Web site, today announced a new partnership that will make UMG's music video catalogue available for free-on-demand streaming to users of Last.fm. The deal, which marks Last.fm's first major video partnership, will bring thousands of high-quality music videos to the Last.fm community. As part of this agreement, Universal Music and its artists will receive revenue for every UMG video streamed.

Starting today, Last.fm users will be able to view thousands of full-length music videos from UMG's market-leading catalogue of chart-topping artists, which includes Jay-Z, Nirvana, Amy Winehouse, The Killers, Duffy, Snow Patrol and Kanye West, among many others. The latest UMG videos can be found on Last.fm at http://www.last.fm/music/+charts/video.

The addition of UMG content provides a massive boost to Last.fm's unrivaled online music video offering which launched last year. Additionally, Last.fm's scrobbling technology will help users engage with the UMG content in a more personalised manner by recommending new videos according to users' individual music taste.

Martin Stiksel, Last.fm co-founder, said: "This is a hugely empowering partnership that really takes Last.fm to the next level. We want to offer a video library that rivals our unparalleled music catalogue, as we work towards Last.fm becoming the only place you need to go to for all music-related content, and this deal marks the first step towards that goal. Universal Music has the richest and most extensive music video collection in the world, and the addition of that content to Last.fm brings us closer to being able to offer the most rewarding personalised music video experience for music fans anywhere."

Rob Wells, Senior Vice President, Digital, Universal Music Group International, commented, "Our relationship with Last.fm is evolving. The use of Universal Music videos on the Last.fm platform is a great opportunity for both consumers and artists, with the latter earning revenues from every video played on the service. Video streaming services are an increasingly important source of income, and it's great to have another new partner on board, tapping into this rich revenue stream."

The Universal video content will be ad-supported, in the same manner as Last.fm's pioneering free-on-demand service which launched in January. As part of the FOD offering, artists, labels and copyright holders receive a share of revenue from the ads displayed next to their content. In its first month offering UMG videos, Last.fm will be marking the partnership by highlighting the Universal video catalogue exclusively on the site.

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 Records 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 Last.fm

Founded in 2002, Last.fm is a CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS.A) (NYSE:and) (NYSE:CBS) owned free global music platform. Last.fm offers music fans millions of tracks in every genre for free-on-demand and radio streaming thanks to partnerships with Universal, EMI, Sony BMG, CD Baby, independent aggregators The Orchard and IODA, and more than 150,000 independent artists and labels -- without the need to sign up or download any software. As well as being able to access tracks for free -- a service which has seen Last.fm become the fastest-growing free online music network in the U.S. -- music fans can also share their music preferences by linking their media player to the Last.fm database. As a result, Last.fm can intelligently recommend songs, artists, local concerts and even other members based on their musical tastes. Last.fm also supports unsigned artists by offering them an unprecedented Artist Royalty program through which they can earn revenue directly from Last.fm every time their music is streamed. Learn more about Last.fm at http://www.last.fm/.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Last.fm

CONTACT: For Last.fm: Katie Gunion, +1-212-975-8009,
katie.gunion@cbs.com, or Christian Ward, +44 (0) 20 7780 7080,
christian@last.fm; or for UMG: Peter LoFrumento, +1-212-331-2585, or Adam
White, +44 2 074715665

Web site: http://www.last.fm/
http://www.last.fm/music/+charts/video

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/965075.html

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Profile: International Entertainment