News

Warner Music UK and MUZU, the new music TV website and distribution platform purpose-built for the music industry, today announced a partnership that will see Warner Music video content available on MUZU across UK and Ireland. Under the terms of the deal, MUZU users will be given unlimited, on-demand access to thousands of videos from Warner Music’s roster of local and international acts. As part of the agreement, Warner Music UK and Muzu will share revenues generated by advertising through the site and its video player.

MUZU allows fans to create, watch and share music video playlists from wide-ranging video content including music videos, concerts, back-stage footage, documentaries and interviews. Registered users can embed their playlists on their social networking pages. Visitors will also be given the opportunity to purchase mp3’s, merchandise and concert tickets.

MUZU and Warner Music UK will work together to drive views, traffic and revenue on the MUZU platform as well as via syndication to MUZU’s publishing partners including Bebo, GigWise, Eircom.net and The Mama Group. In addition, Warner Music UK will also adopt MUZU as a promotional platform for events such as video premieres and exclusives as well as by embedding the MUZU video player into selected artist websites and social networking profiles.

Ciaran Bollard, co-founder and director of business development, MUZU said, “This is great coup for MUZU users given we are one of the only video services to have deals with all four majors and strong support and representation from the independent sector. Warner has really embraced MUZU and truly recognizes that a partnership is more than a license and will be working closely with us to co-market and syndicate the artist video content to drive new revenue opportunities.”

Noel Penzer, Business Development Director, Warner Music UK said, “The fact that music videos engage a huge, diverse and passionate online audience, covering a wide range of tastes and behaviour, makes a video platform built around music an attractive proposition to artists, labels, fans and brands alike. A highly flexible and easy-to-use site, MUZU is a first-class music experience which puts the relationship between fan and artist at its core. It enables people to interact with music content whilst ensuring that artists and their music companies share in the value created.”

MUZU for the Music Industry
MUZU enables labels and bands to broadcast their music video on the web and get paid wherever it goes. MUZU pays content owners half of all the ad revenue generated from display ads on their MUZU channels and ‘in-video’ adverts within their MUZU players, both on MUZU and when players are embedded on external sites like MySpace, Facebook, Bebo or other external sites.

Any band or label can create their own branded music TV channel on MUZU, featuring multiple video playlists, along with a personalised profile, messaging and fans or friends section. On MUZU content owners always retain the rights over their video content and get paid royalties as normal through MUZU’s agreement with the collection societies. They also retain full control over their video as they decide what goes live and can add or remove any of their videos whenever they feel like it.

MUZU for Music Fans
For music fans, MUZU is primarily about watching, creating and sharing unlimited music video playlists. Fans can access over 10,000 artist channels including major label acts like MGMT, The Ting Tings, White Stripes, Adele, Bon Iver, Cold Play, David Bowie, The Kooks and Beyonce, and up and coming indie bands like Fight Like Apes.

Fans can also create their own Music TV Channels featuring any video on MUZU, and embed them in their social networking pages further increasing the revenue potential for bands. Fans can also feature on their favourite artist channels by uploading video they have created on that artist.  They can also interact with other fans, discover and share music, all legally and at no cost.

About Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group became the only stand-alone music company to be publicly traded in the United States in May 2005. With its broad roster of new stars and legendary artists, Warner Music Group is home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry including Asylum, Atlantic, Bad Boy, Cordless, East West, Elektra, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Rykodisc, Sire, Warner Bros. and Word. Warner Music International, a leading company in national and international repertoire, operates through numerous international affiliates and licensees in more than 50 countries. Warner Music Group also includes Warner/Chappell Music, one of the world's leading music publishers, with a catalog of more than one million copyrights worldwide.