Listen.com Friday announced that BMG Entertainment,
EMI Recorded Music, the Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group have
invested an undisclosed amount in the downloadable music company.
Listen.com also disclosed that Maverick Records
principals Guy Oseary and Ronnie Dashev have invested in the year-old San
Francisco start-up.
“Having all five major labels as investors means that Listen.com is now
clearly positioned as the platform for discovering digital music,” said
Listen.com founder and Chief Executive Officer Rob Reid. “These investments in Listen.com are
also another significant sign that the entire music industry will be moving
aggressively online this year.”
Listen.com also announced deals with six leading independent labels: KOCH
Entertainment, Mammoth Records, Ministry of Sound, Moonshine Music, TVT
Records, and Ubiquity Records. The six companies join Artemis Records, BYO
Records, Kill Rock Stars, Matador Records, Ng Records, Palm
Pictures/Rykodisc, Platinum Records and Razor & Tie as Listen.com’s
independent label partners.
“BMG is focused on using the Internet to provide greater exposure for our
artists and to create a digital connection between our artists and their
fans. BMG’s partnership with Listen.com reflects our desire to support those
companies that are working to build a legitimate market for digitally
delivered music. Listen.com provides music fans with easy access to
legitimate digital downloads,” said Kevin Conroy, BMG Entertainment’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing and new technology.
“Listen.com cuts through all the clutter on the Web and gets fans closer to
the music they love,” said Jay Samit, EMI senior vice president for new
media.
“Universal Music Group views our investment in Listen.com as another building
block toward the widespread consumer adoption of digital distribution of
music. We believe that Listen’s commitment to the creation of a
comprehensive guide to legitimate content – content that has been made
available by the artist in the way she or he intended it to be made available
— is a valuable service for the many music consumers in the coming years
that will adopt this new medium of distribution,” said Larry Kenswil,
president, Universal eLabs.
“Warner Music Group is pleased to partner with Listen.com,” said Paul Vidich,
executive vice president, strategic planning and business development for
Warner Music Group. “It’s a service that easily links consumers with the
legitimate music that’s broadly available on the net, and it provides us with
another great promotional opportunity to connect our artists with their fans.”
“The Internet offers huge opportunities for artists and labels to better
connect with fans all over the world,” said Guy Oseary of Maverick Records.
“I’m confident that Listen.com is going to be a company that plays a major
role in this new music revolution.”