MOG Launches MOG Music Network to Drive Ad Revenue and Exposure for Music Blogs and Music Websites

MOG Launches MOG Music Network to Drive Ad Revenue and Exposure for Music Blogs and Music Websites

BERKELEY, Calif., Aug. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- MOG (http://mog.com/), a music blogging platform powered by industry-leading music discovery technology, today announced the launch of MOG Music Network (MMN), a new advertising network for independent music blogs and music websites. MOG, which was recently named one of the top 10 hottest music websites by WIRED, launches MOG Music Network with more than 30 music blog and website affiliates already in place. To fill out an application to join MMN, visit http://www.mog.com/mmn.

MMN's purpose is to help affiliate sites drive more traffic and generate revenue from advertising. MMN builds online advertising packages that deliver unique benefits over typical ad networks or Google AdSense, including the opportunity to:

   -- Increase exposure and drive traffic:      Headlines and excerpts from MMN affiliates' posts are published via RSS      to an audience of millions of music fans across MOG and the entire      network, who click through to read full posts.   -- Increase search engine rankings.   -- Get access to premier brand advertisers.   -- Command premium CPMs.   -- Control the kinds of ads and advertisers displayed.   -- Set CPM minimums exceeding leading third-party ad sales solutions.    

"We're not just repping ads here," said David Hyman, MOG's CEO and founder. "MOG has already built the largest pure music blogging platform. Now we're opening MOG's doors and integrating independent music blogs into our platform. They get to find a brand new audience while benefiting from our back end of community and streaming music."

Hyman continued, "The inspiration for MOG Music Network came directly from music bloggers; they wanted to write once, and publish multiple times -- simultaneously on their own blogs and throughout the MOG network. We delivered that capability as well as the opportunity to generate ad revenue."

Brand marketers wishing to speak to millions of passionate music lovers will find an ideal platform for their messages on MOG Music Network. They will also benefit from working with a team that is experienced at creating digital extensions and convergent promotional opportunities across multiple properties.

"By advertising on MOG Music Network advertisers get the best of both worlds," said Alex Brough, MOG's VP, sales and strategic partnerships. "The quality premium sites on the network help to achieve brand marketing objectives with customized sponsorships while the large network of music sites provide scale and efficiency."

Joining MOG Music Network gives bloggers unprecedented access to a world-class ad sales force. The team is lead by VP, sales and strategic partnerships, Alex Brough, who for the last 10 years was an online ad sales executive at MTV Networks. Brough was responsible for over $20 million in ad revenue in 2007 alone. He also helped run online ad sales at Addicted to Noise, the first music website, where he originally met and worked under David Hyman.

Over the past 15 years, Hyman has pioneered the idea of building brands online-from Hotwired, where he was part of the team that sold one of the first online ads, to co-founding Addicted to Noise, where he brought many major brands online for the first time, including Levi's, Coca Cola, Microsoft and Ford. After a stint as SVP-marketing at MTV Interactive, David was CEO of Gracenote, which was acquired by Sony Corporation in April 2008.

"MOG has assembled the best team on the web to monetize music blogs," concluded Hyman.

Since its public beta launch in July 2006, MOG has provided the ultimate tools for expressing oneself as a musical human being. The result is a world-class online music destination created by MOG's passionate community of music lovers and comprised of thousands of music blogs. Cutting edge filters make finding the music, videos, news and reviews that match personal tastes intuitive and easy.

In December 2007, MOG announced full-site integration with the award-winning Rhapsody(R) digital music service, providing the MOG community with a rich, full-song playback music experience.

Completely free, anyone can access the best music content online or contribute to the community by creating their own MOG pages by visiting http://mog.com/.

About MOG

Recently named one of the top 10 hottest music websites by Wired, MOG (http://mog.com/) is a music blogging platform powered by industry-leading music discovery technology. Cutting edge filters make it ridiculously easy to find the music, videos, news and reviews that match your musical taste. Completely free, MOG was started by David Hyman, former CEO of Gracenote, former SVP-Marketing at MTV Interactive, and self-proclaimed music freak. Founded in June 2005 and headquartered in Berkeley, CA, MOG has raised $6 million in funding to date, including strategic investments from Universal Music Group and Sony BMG. MOG launched its public beta July 2006. For more information go to http://mog.com/.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: MOG

CONTACT: Dana Smith, +1-510-524-2066, mobile, +1-510-682-3141,
dana@dadascope.com, of Dadascope Communications for MOG

Web site: http://www.mog.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment