Friday, October 7, 2011

The Online Network & Universal Music Group Team Up To Bring "Music, Ecommerce & Artist Participation" to ALL MY CHILDREN & ONE LIFE TO LIVE

The Online Network (TOLN) and Universal Music Group (UMG) have announced that they are joining forces in what appears to be a "win-win-win" situation, with the third winner being the consumer.

Under the apartnership, UMG will be have unfettered access to the viewers of the new ONE LIFE TO LIVE and the new ALL MY CHILDREN, selling music directly to the audience in real time. For example, if you liked the song playing while your favorite couple were just intimate, you can go ahead and purchase it, seamlessly and conveniently.

TOLN will have access to the UMG talent pool, in addition to the music itself. Expect better soundtracks and more cameos from artist such as Mary J. Blige, One Republic or Snoop Dogg, who have all enjoyed time on OLTL in the past.

Viewers will benefit because UMG is, in a sense, subsidizing the costs of producing the two soaps. If Prospect Park can partner with enough other corporations, they won't have to charge a thing for content delivery. In fact, the TOLN/UMG announcement marks the first tangible evidence that OLTL and AMC will continue to air in a similar format, but at no cost to the audience at home.

Read the press release below:

The Online Network Forges Partnership With Universal Music Group (UMG) to Bring Music, Ecommerce and Artist Participation to New Productions of ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE

LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Online Network (TOLN) has partnered with Universal Music Group (UMG), the world's leading music company, to license music exclusively from UMG's record and publishing companies to new episodes of ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE, when both series launch online after their run on ABC ends. The licensing deal with UMG allows TOLN to provide compelling recorded music and songs, and artist cross-promotion and integration, to a powerful new audience. Through the mutually beneficial relationship, UMG has the ability to tap the broad reach of two of the market's most popular soap operas as well as new platforms for artists to explore promotion and ecommerce. The announcement was made today by TOLN's owners Prospect Park's Jeff Kwatinetz and Rich Frank, and UMG's President & COO, Zach Horowitz.

The agreement also includes an ecommerce integration that will allow fans the opportunity to purchase the music used in episodes of the soaps, and access other exclusive content only available online. Previously Mr. Kwatinetz and Universal Music Group worked with ONE LIFE TO LIVE to feature artists including One Republic, Mary J. Blige, Puddle of Mudd and Snoop Dogg in various episodes.

Earlier this year, Prospect Park announced a multi-year, multi-platform licensing agreement with Disney/ABC Domestic Television Group to continue production of both the ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE soap operas through TOLN, its new online network. In addition, Prospect Park will offer other episodic programming to consumers via online formats and additional emerging platforms including internet enabled television sets.

In a joint statement Mr. Kwatinetz and Mr. Frank said, "As we continue to develop programming for our online network, we are taking every facet of production into consideration to create a premium product for our viewers. Previously these programs have not focused on, or had limited contemporary music and artist involvement, and through UMG we can deliver fans from around the world access to some of the world's most popular music and artists all leading to better production, storylines and program experience."

Mr. Horowitz stated, "This unique arrangement with ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE offers our artists and songwriters a special opportunity for exposure on two of the most iconic soap operas ever. The online network for the programs is an exciting new vehicle for consumers to connect with our artists and their work, and purchase music seamlessly as they hear it on each episode. We look forward to working with Prospect to bring the best in music to the shows' fans."

About The Online Network

The Online Network is an online content distribution network owned by Prospect Park, a media and production company founded in 2009 by entertainment industry veterans Jeffrey Kwatinetz and former Disney Studios President Rich Frank. The Online Network will launch in January 2012 and will feature first-run entertainment and lifestyle shows as well as new episodes of serial dramas ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE. Fans can register to receive the latest information and news at www.TOLN.com or www.theonlinenetwork.com .

About Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is the world's leading music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 77 territories. 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, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammophon, Disa, Emarcy, Fonovisa, Geffen Records, Interscope Records, Island Records, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Motown Records, Polydor Records, Show Dog-Universal Music, Universal Music Latino, Universal Republic 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 Global Digital Business, its new media and technologies division; Bravado, its merchandising company; and Twenty-First Artists, its full service management division.

Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi, a global media and communications company.

SOURCE: Universal Music Group

3 comments:

  1. Bravo! Dare we hope there is actually superior intelligence in behind the online migration of soaps? This sounds like what we've been arguing needs to happen for YEARS to improve the financial model!

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  2. Oh PP might not be charging the viewers directly, but they will sucker the viewers into buying the music that they hear on the show and these desperate people will fall for this ponzi scheme and buy the music which PP benefit from, therefore, they will sucker in the viewers who are nieve to follow them to the internet, by being the front man for the record company, so PP and the Record company are one hand washing the other. #1 the writing has gotten so bad for OLTL that it's barely watchable so I will not waste time out of my life to follow this crap to the internet. Good luck to the suckers who get lured into this scheme of ABC and PP.

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  3. Hey Rick Perry, maybe you should worry more about your ridiculous campaign platform and stop watching soaps. It's the 21st century and you can't stop progress. The times they are achanging. Ponzi scheme?? Really?? Ha!

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