MTV Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), and one of the world’s leading creators of television and digital entertainment, and Warner Music Group Corp. (NYSE: WMG), one the world’s premier music companies, have announced a broad-reaching, multi-year partnership that strengthens MTV Music Group’s leadership position in the digital music category while expanding WMG’s artist-centered video strategy. 

The agreement also offers one-stop shopping for advertising inventory around the industry’s most comprehensive source of music-related programming and music videos.  MTV Music Group will now have the exclusive right to sell advertising inventory around WMG premium music video content in the U.S. across MTV Music Group digital properties and mobile services, as well as on WMG’s growing network of proprietary artist sites and third-party affiliate sites. As part of the deal, WMG’s video views will now be counted as part of MTV Music Group’s. 

Through this new partnership, WMG artists will have multiple ways to reach MTVN’s hyper-connected audience across its flagship music franchises, covering multiple genres and platforms such as MTV’s Emmy Award winning Unplugged series, VH1’s Behind the Music and CMT’s Crossroads. 

“At WMG our highest priority is to keep the artists at the center of everything we do, and this alliance enables us to offer our artists the marketing and sales firepower of the world’s most widely-recognized and highly-trafficked music destinations to help them drive revenue from their video content, on the artist’s own site, as well as through the many other places that fans access their music,” said Lyor Cohen, Vice Chairman and Chairman and CEO, Recorded Music – Americas and the U.K., WMG.  “MTV Music Group has a history of creating compelling music content on TV, digitally and, most recently, in music games and their ability to leverage all of these platforms offers our artists a broader reach and a more compelling way for us to further connect them with music fans.”

This partnership comes on the heels of exponential digital growth for MTV Music Group. Over the last year, the Group has garnered a 68% increase in unique visitors, further positioning it as an industry leader in the music category. MTV Music Group’s strategy provides a comprehensive approach to music discovery across all screens and builds upon the Group’s success with traditional music videos to include artist interviews and news, exclusive live stream concerts and chats, original documentaries, music apps and innovative social media integration.

“As music consumption continues to evolve, we have evolved with it on linear and digital platforms to provide music fans with multiple ways to discover and access the music and artists they love,” said Van Toffler, President of MTV Music Group.  "This partnership with WMG is good for music fans, artists and the business, allowing consumers to connect directly with WMG's biggest musical artists simultaneously through music videos, interviews, exclusive archival footage, live performances and even original content we create together, truly building a musical experience for the future."

Under the terms of the deal, MTVN and WMG will also work together to sell advertising on WMG mobile apps and WAP sites, as well as identify sponsors for WMG artist tours and live events.  MTVN will also provide WMG labels with a full range of ad sales services from their renowned ad sales and marketing teams, including marketing, strategy and planning, pipeline management and reporting, and the management of agency relationships.  In addition to online and mobile opportunities, WMG artists will continue to receive exposure across popular MTV Music Group networks such as MTV, VH1, CMT, MTV2, VH1 Classic, Palladia and others.

Prior to this agreement with MTVN, certain of WMG’s online ad sales functions were handled by Outrigger Media, a leading provider of Internet video advertising solutions.  WMG will continue to work with Outrigger over the next few months as it relates to the company’s premium advertising sales and explore opportunities beyond the transition with MTVN. 

John Lennon albums remastered from the original mixes and new collections compiled for global “Gimme Some Truth” campaign launching in October

The GRAMMY Award winning album ‘Double Fantasy’ will now be available in a newly remixed ‘Stripped Down’ version produced by Yoko Ono and Jack Douglas

Sweeping Catalogue Initiative Overseen by Yoko Ono and EMI Music Commemorates Lennon’s 70th Birthday

London, England – June 29, 2010 – Eight of John Lennon’s classic solo albums and other standout recordings have been digitally remastered from his original mixes for a global catalogue initiative commemorating the music legend’s 70th birthday, which falls on October 9.

Overseen by Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth” campaign will launch on 4 October (5 October in North America) with the worldwide release of eight remastered studio albums and several newly-compiled titles.

Double Fantasy, 1980’s GRAMMY Award winner for Album of the Year, will be presented in a newly remixed ‘Stripped Down’ version remixed and produced by Yoko Ono and Jack Douglas, co-producers of the original mix with John Lennon. The new stripped down version of the album comes in an expanded 2CD and digital edition pairing the new version with Lennon’s original mix, remastered.

The campaign’s other new collections include:

•    A hits compilation in two editions titled Power To The People: The Hits
•    A 4CD set of themed discs titled Gimme Some Truth
•    A deluxe 11CD collectors box with the remastered albums, rarities, and non-album singles, titled the John Lennon Signature Box

All of the remastered albums and collections will be available on CD and for download purchase from all major digital service providers

YOKO ONO said: “In this very special year, which would have seen my husband and life partner John reach the age of 70, I hope that this remastering / reissue programme will help bring his incredible music to a whole new audience. By remastering 121 tracks spanning his solo career, I hope also that those who are already familiar with John’s work will find renewed inspiration from his incredible gifts as a songwriter, musician and vocalist and from his power as a commentator on the human condition. His lyrics are as relevant today as they were when they were first written and I can think of no more apposite title for this campaign than those simple yet direct words ‘Gimme Some Truth’.”

The albums have been digitally remastered from Lennon’s original mixes by Yoko Ono and a team of engineers led by Allan Rouse at EMI Music’s Abbey Road Studios in London and by George Marino at Avatar Studios in New York.  All of the remastered titles will be packaged in digisleeves with replicated original album art and booklets with photos and new liner notes by noted British music journalist Paul Du Noyer. The albums to be reissued are:

•    John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)
•    Imagine (1971)
•    Some Time In New York City (1972)
•    Mind Games (1973)
•    Walls and Bridges (1974)
•    Rock ‘n’ Roll (1975)
•    Double Fantasy Stripped Down (2010) / Double Fantasy (1980)
•    Milk and Honey (1984)

YOKO ONO added:  “Double Fantasy Stripped Down really allows us to focus our attention on John’s amazing vocals. Technology has advanced so much that, conversely, I wanted to use new techniques to really frame these amazing songs and John’s voice as simply as possible. By stripping down some of the instrumentation the power of the songs shines through with an enhanced clarity. Double Fantasy Stripped Down will be complemented by the original album in the 2CD format. It was whilst working on the new version of this album that I was hit hardest emotionally, as this was the last album John released before his passing.”

Power To The People: The Hits gathers 15 of Lennon’s most popular songs, and will be available as a 15-track single-disc and digital package, and as an Experience Edition with additional content.  Both versions will be packaged in digisleeves with booklets including a new liner note essay by Du Noyer.

Gimme Some Truth, to be packaged in a slipcase with rare photos and a new liner notes essays by respected American music journalist and author, Anthony DeCurtis, presents 72 of Lennon’s solo recordings on four themed CDs:

•    ‘Roots’ – John’s rock ‘n’ roll roots and influences
•    ‘Working Class Hero’ – John’s socio-political songs
•    ‘Woman’ – John’s love songs
•     ‘Borrowed Time’ – John’s songs about life

The John Lennon Signature Box is a deluxe 11CD and digital collection of the eight remastered albums, a disc of rare and previously unreleased recordings, and an EP of Lennon’s non-album singles. The CDs will be housed in digisleeves within a deluxe box including a collectible limited edition John Lennon art print and a hardbound book featuring rare photos, artwork, collages, poetry, and new liner notes by DeCurtis.

One of the world’s most celebrated songwriters and performers of all time, John Lennon was killed at the age of 40 on December 8, 1980.  Lennon has been posthumously honoured with a Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY Award and two special BRIT Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Music, and he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.  In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked him in the Top 5 of the magazine’s “100 Greatest Singers Of All Time” list.

In celebration of his 70th birthday on 9 October, 2010, John Lennon’s life and music will be specially feted with a variety of commemorative releases and events around the world. Please visit www.johnlennon.com for official announcements and updates.

Additional scenes in the campaign include ‘I am Neil Armstrong’, a scene depicting a baby’s first steps, ‘I am Snow White’ where a real life Spanish bride allows her pre-wedding preparations to be filmed and ‘I am Here’ showing holiday makers exploring the Egyptian Pyramids. The campaign, for the Nikon Coolpix range, aims to bring Nikon’s cameras to an even wider audience of aspiring photographers.

EMI worked closely with IE Music, Robbie’s management company, and Nikon and their Advertising agency Jung von Matt/Spree GmbH to develop the campaign.

Commenting on the project, Rafael McDonnell, EMI Music VP for Brand Partnerships, Licensing & Synchronisation – Europe said: “The new Nikon Europe campaign featuring Robbie Williams shows the power music has to connect with people. The partnership we’ve built between EMI Music, IE Music, Nikon and Jung von Matt/Spree shows how we can bring together the right artists and the right brands in ways that are mutually beneficial to all.”

The campaign is currently rolling out across Europe and will soon launch in South Africa.

Watch the advert here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp0ju0UK_8Y

Atlantic recording artist Phil Collins has announced the forthcoming release of “GOING BACK,” a deeply personal labor of love that finds the eight-time Grammy winner faithfully recreating the Motown and soul music that played such an influential role in his creative life.  Due in September, “GOING BACK” marks the 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s first new studio album in eight years.
 
To celebrate “GOING BACK,” Collins will play a string of very special live concerts at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom from June 22-25.  Billed as UP CLOSE & PERSONAL: PHIL COLLINS PLAYS 60’S MOTOWN & SOUL, the shows will be exclusively devoted to the music from “GOING BACK” and other classic R&B/pop gems.  The concerts will be presented as an “old school” style, standing-room-only dance concert.
 
Supporting Collins will be an extraordinary 18-piece ensemble of musicians and vocalists.  Anchoring the group will be three of Motown’s legendary session players, aka The Funk Brothers – bassist Bob Babbitt and guitarists Eddie Willis and Ray Monette – who are also featured on the “GOING BACK” album.  The live band will also include long-time Collins cohorts Chester Thompson (drums), Daryl Stuermer (guitar), and Brad Cole (keyboards), plus Leslie Smith (percussion).  Rounding out the ensemble will be a five-member horn section and six backing vocalists.

Presented by Live Nation, tickets for all four Roseland shows will be available to Citibank cardholders through a special pre-sale at livenation.com beginning at 10a.m. ET on Monday, April 19th, and will go on sale to the general public at 10a.m. ET on Saturday, April 24th at livenation.com and charge by phone.

Coinciding with Collins’s Roseland shows, on June 17th he will receive the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s prestigious Johnny Mercer Award at the organization’s annual gala awards dinner in New York City.  Significantly, Collins – a previous Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee – will join an esteemed list of past Mercer Award winners that includes several legendary composers whose work he celebrates on “GOING BACK,” including Holland-Dozier-Holland, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and Carole King.  In addition, among Collins’s fellow Mercer Award honorees this year is Earth, Wind & Fire’s Philip Bailey, with whom he collaborated on the hit single, “Easy Lover.”

While in the past Collins has paid tribute to his roots by covering some of his favorite songs – including “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “A Groovy Kind Of Love,” “Tomorrow Never Knows,” “True Colours,” and others – this marks the first time in his 30-year solo career that he has devoted an entire project to the work of other songwriters and performers. 

“It shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone that I've finally made an album of my favourite Motown songs,” explains Collins.  “These songs – along with a couple of Dusty Springfield tracks, a Phil Spector/Ronettes tune, and one by the Impressions – make up the tapestry, the backdrop, of my teenage years. I remember it as if it was yesterday, going to the Marquee Club in London's Soho and watching The Who, The Action, and many others, playing these songs.
In turn I'd go out the next day to buy the original versions.
“My idea, though, was not to bring anything ‘new’ to these already great records, but to try to recreate the sounds and feelings that I had when I first heard them.  My intention was to make an ‘old’ record, not a ‘new’ record.  To be able to have three of the surviving Funk Brothers play on all the tracks was unbelievable.  There was one moment when they were tracking ‘Heat Wave’ that I experienced a wave of happiness and wonder that this was actually happening to me!  I learned more about production skills and the wonderful songwriting of those concerned whilst making this album, than I have from anything else.  To those pioneers...much love and gratitude.”

The songs slated for inclusion on “GOING BACK” range from the album opener, the Temptations’ Holland-Dozier-Holland-penned “Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)” to the moving album-closing title track, a Collins-arranged version of the Gerry Goffin/Carole King tune “Going Back,” made famous by Dusty Springfield.  In between, the collection captures multiple songs by Stevie Wonder – “Uptight (Everything’s Alright),” “Blame It On The Sun,” “Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer”; Martha And The Vandellas – “(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave,” “In My Lonely Room,” “Jimmy Mack”; and the Four Tops – “Standing In The Shadows Of Love,” “Something About You,” “Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever.”

The Temptations get another shout-out with “Papa Was A Rolling Stone,” while the Goffin-King team is again represented by a second Dusty Springfield track, “Some Of Your Loving.”  Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions are captured on “Talking About My Baby,” while Phil hails the Ronettes with “Do I Love You?”  The Motown-fest continues with Smokey Robinson & The Miracles’ “Going To A Go-Go,” the Supremes’ “Love Is Here,” and Kim Weston’s “Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While).”

The career of Phil Collins is one that, by any measure, stands among the most creative, prolific, and impressive in the history of modern music.  It is a career that really has been many careers – musician, singer, composer, producer, actor – from art rock beginnings to pop stardom, from big band leader to film soundtracks and Broadway.  It has been an exceptional musical life spanning four decades, some 100 million solo albums sold (250 million if you count his work with Genesis), an extraordinary string of hits, eight Grammy Awards, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, numerous industry accolades, and, above all, an inestimable influence on countless fellow artists and passionate fans around the globe.

Source: Atlantic Records