Hope For Haiti Now Adds New Musical Performances And Celebrity Participants To Superstar Lineup

A Global Benefit For Earthquake Relief' Adds New Musical Performances And Celebrity Participants To Superstar Lineup

Beyonce to Perform in London

Madonna in New York City

Haitian Artist Emeline Michel in Los Angeles

Participants to include President Bill Clinton, Ben Stiller, Brad Pitt, Chris Rock, Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jon Stewart, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Nicole Kidman, Robert Pattinson, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hanks, Will Smith with Muhammad Ali, and More Than One Hundred of the Biggest Names in Film, Television, and Music

"Hope for Haiti Now" to Begin Accepting Donations via Online, Phone, Text and Mail at 12:00 p.m. ET/9:00 a.m. PT on Friday, January 22

Music Performances Available for Pre-Order Exclusively on iTunes



NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES, and LONDON, Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief," today announced the addition of new musical artists and celebrity participants to its lineup. "Hope for Haiti Now" will air on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT and 7:00 p.m. CT.

Newly added performers Beyonce in London, Madonna in New York City, and Haitian artist Emeline Michel in Los Angeles will join the previously announced lineup: Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, and Sting in New York City; Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift and a group performance by Keith Urban, Kid Rock, and Sheryl Crow in Los Angeles; and Coldplay, and a group performance by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z, and Rihanna in London.

In addition to musical performances, Wyclef Jean in New York City, George Clooney in Los Angeles, and CNN's Anderson Cooper reporting from Haiti, "Hope for Haiti Now" will feature President Bill Clinton, Ben Stiller, Brad Pitt, Chris Rock, Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jon Stewart, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Nicole Kidman, Robert Pattinson, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hanks, Will Smith with Muhammad Ali, and more than one hundred of the biggest names in film, television, and music.

"Hope for Haiti Now" will begin accepting donations at 12:00 p.m. ET/9:00 a.m. PT on Friday, January 22 via the following methods:

* Online: www.hopeforhaitinow.org
* Phone: 877-99-HAITI
* Text: Text "GIVE" to 50555
* Mail: Hope For Haiti Now Fund, Entertainment Industry Foundation, 1201 West 5th Street, Suite T-700, Los Angeles, CA 90017

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Sony Music Entertainment and Simon Cowell Launch New Global Venture

LONDON and NEW YORK, January 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment today announced the creation of a new long-term global venture to focus on the production and exploitation of music, television, film and digital content.

The new venture will own all of the existing Syco television and music assets, which include the global TV franchises "The X Factor" and "Got Talent", as well as superstar artists such as Leona Lewis, Susan Boyle and Il Divo. The new venture, which will continue to use the "Syco" name, will be co-owned by Sony Music and a Simon Cowell-owned company. Syco will be based in London and will also have offices in Los Angeles.





As the first project under the new Syco banner, Fox Television announced (on January 11th) that it will launch the U.S. version of the worldwide hit TV show, "The X Factor", in the fall of 2011. Cowell will serve as both executive producer and judge on the U.S. version of the show.

"The X Factor" is a Syco-owned television format, which currently airs in 17 countries and has been the #1 UK entertainment show for the last three years, reaching record UK audiences in 2009 of 20 million with 60% audience share. "The X Factor" is the No.1 music- entertainment format in Europe.

In addition to "The X Factor", Syco is also the owner of the "Got Talent" TV format which currently airs in 27 countries and is the UK's most successful TV format export. In 2009, "Britain's Got Talent" launched the global music career of Susan Boyle, whose debut album, "I Dreamed A Dream", sold over 8 million albums in six weeks, making it the world's biggest selling album of 2009 and the fastest selling album in history.

Syco is also the record label home for such diverse international recording stars as Leona Lewis and Il Divo. Cowell has worked with artists selling more than 180 million albums and delivered more than 150 No.1 records. In 2009, Cowell was named No. 1 in Hollywood Reporter's Top 50 Most Powerful in Reality TV and one of Entertainment Weekly's Top Entertainers of the Year.

"I have had a fantastic relationship with Sony for many years and I'm delighted we are launching this venture together," Cowell said.

"Over the past 20 years, Simon Cowell has been a great partner and is an integral part of the Sony Music global family. We are extremely excited to be able to continue and further develop our relationship with Simon, and significantly grow the Syco venture," said Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, CEO, Sony Music Entertainment.

"Simon Cowell is one of the most prominent and successful creative music and television executives in the entertainment business today. This new venture will allow Sony Music and all Sony divisions to develop and pursue a host of new opportunities with this supremely talented individual," said Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, CEO and President, Sony Corporation.

"I am absolutely delighted that we have been able to extend our long and mutually beneficial partnership with Simon. He is an inspiring and stimulating business partner and working with him closely over the last 10 years has been an absolute pleasure. With the launch of "The X Factor" in the US, we look forward to replicating the unprecedented success the show has had in the UK globally," said Ged Doherty, Chairman and CEO, Sony Music Entertainment UK.

SOURCE Sony Music Entertainment

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JAY-Z Announces Additional BP3 North American Tour Dates

TREY SONGZ CONFIRMED TO JOIN BP3 TOUR

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT LIVENATION.COM

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- After a stellar 2009, surpassing Elvis as the solo artist with the most # 1 albums, scoring a # 1 single with the anthemic "Empire State Of Mind" with Alicia Keys, performing during the World Series at Yankee Stadium, winning American Music Awards, sitting down with Oprah and staging a sold out 2009 tour, JAY-Z has added dates for his BP3 2010 North American tour. JAY-Z will make a triumphant hometown appearance on March 2nd when he returns to Madison Square Garden with a performance that is sure to galvanize New York City fans. He has also added a date at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville on March 5th. It was also announced today that R&B singer Trey Songz will join JAY-Z and Grammy-nominated rapper Young Jeezy on the nationwide tour. Tickets for the newly announced dates go on sale at LiveNation.com beginning on Friday, January 15th, with all other dates on sale now.

Citi® cardmembers will have access to presale tickets for the New York City date beginning on January 12th at 10am local time through Citi's Private Pass® Program. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com. For the Madison Square Garden show, Citi® cardmembers will also have access to VIP Ticket Packages that include VIP Lounge seats, personal concierge, a private pre-show VIP party and more.

"Jay-Z is the greatest rapper alive. Anyone who was in attendance at his sold-out KeyArena concert Saturday night can attest to that fact. Hova, Young Hov, Jigga, Hovito, whatever you call him Shawn Carter is on top of the rap game and there were no signs of him stepping down any time soon during his career-spanning two-hour show."

Seattle Post Intelligencer (KeyArena Review), October 19, 2009
The 2009 North American tour, a mix of 26 colleges and arenas, featured sold out dates including Pennsylvania State's Bryce Center, UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, Northern Kentucky University's Bank of Kentucky, Eastern Michigan University's Convocation Center, and the University of Massachusetts' Mullins Center as well as, the KeyArena in Seattle, Kelowna British Columbia's Prospera Place, Philadelphia's Wachovia Center, Providence's Dunkin' Donuts Center and Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena.
For complete ticket, tour and on sale information visit LiveNation.com.

SOURCE Live Nation

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Nielsen SoundScan Lists Taylor Swift as the Top-Selling Digital Artist in History

Taylor Has Year's Top-Selling Album and Year's Most-Played Song

Taylor Wins People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Artist

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- With over 24.3 million digital tracks sold to date, Taylor Swift is the top-selling digital artist in music history, according to sales figures released yesterday by Nielsen SoundScan. In addition, her FEARLESS album was 2009's top-seller, with sales last year in excess of 3.2 million copies, and Taylor claimed both the #1 and #2 positions atop Nielsen's BDS Top 10 Most Played Songs chart (all genres), with "You Belong With Me" and "Love Story," respectively. She also topped the all format 2009 Top 10 Artist Airplay chart with over 1.29 million song detections, and the Top 10 Artist Internet Streams chart with more than 46 million song plays.
FEARLESS was also the top-selling album of 2008, and Taylor is the youngest solo artist ever to top the year-end sales chart. FEARLESS, now quintuple-platinum, also topped Billboard's 2009 all-genre Top 200 Albums chart and was named Country Album of the Year by the editors of iTunes. Taylor's self-titled debut album, released in 1996, currently holds the record for Billboard's longest charting album this century, and she is tied with the Beatles and Mariah Carey for Billboard's Most Top 20 Debuts.
Taylor finished 2009 not only with the best-selling album, she was named Billboard's Artist of the Year, as well as Entertainer of the Year by the Associated Press. She topped People magazine's Most Intriguing People of 2009 list, was named a Person Who Mattered by the editors of Time magazine, a Person of the Year by NBC, and was featured as one of Rolling Stone's 100 People Changing America. People named her one of 2009's 10 Best Dressed Celebrities and also one of the year's Most Beautiful People.
Taylor started off the New Year with a big win at last night's People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles, taking home the all-genre Favorite Female Artist award. Earlier in the day she made a surprise appearance at CES in Las Vegas, where Sony Chairman & CEO Sir Howard Stringer introduced her as the newest Brand Ambassador for Sony Electronics.
Taylor's next television performance will be on the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, broadcast live on CBS on January 31st. Taylor is nominated for eight Grammies, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year. She makes her feature film acting debut in Garry Marshall's Valentine's Day, set for US release on February 12th, and takes her sold-out FEARLESS tour back on the road in Australia next month. Her line of American Greetings cards will also hit stores in February.
For a complete listing of dates and updated information on the 2010 FEARLESS tour, please visit: www.taylorswift.com.
For more information, please contact:

Natalie Kilgore                     Paula Erickson
    Big Machine Records                 Erickson Public Relations
    615.324.7769                        615.665.5950
    

SOURCE Big Machine Records

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The Echo Nest Secures Additional Venture Financing

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SOMERVILLE, Mass., Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The Echo Nest, a music intelligence company powering smarter music applications for leading online music companies and developers, today announced it secured additional venture financing. The company adds three new notable investors: Donald L. McLagan, Nicholas Negroponte and James J. Pallotta.

Donald L. McLagan most recently served as Chairman, President and CEO of Compete, Inc., which was acquired by Taylor Nelson Sofres. Previously, he was the founder, Chairman and CEO of NewsEdge Corporation, served as Vice President and General Manager of the Information Services Division of Lotus Development Corporation, and was Executive Vice President of Data Resources, Inc. (DRI). Mr. McLagan joined The Echo Nest board of directors in October of 2009.

Nicholas Negroponte was a co-founder and director of the MIT Media Laboratory and is founder and chairman of the One Laptop per Child non-profit association. He serves on the board of directors for Motorola, Inc. and as general partner in a venture capital firm specializing in digital technologies for information and entertainment.

James Pallotta is Chairman and Managing Director of Raptor Capital Management. Previously, Mr. Pallotta was employed by Tudor Investment Corporation. Mr. Pallotta joined Tudor as Managing Director of the U.S. Equity Securities Group in 1993, became a Member of the Management Committee of Tudor in 1996 and Vice Chairman of Tudor in 2005. He has 27 years of experience in equity research, analysis and investment, with a deep background in media and technology. Mr. Pallotta is also a member of the Executive Board of the Boston Celtics.

The Echo Nest's existing investors, including Commonwealth Capital Ventures, Argos Management and other angel investors, including Thomas DiBenedetto and MIT Media Lab co-founder Barry Vercoe, all participated in this most recent investment round. The Echo Nest will use the additional capital for planned major enhancements to its music application development platform and to expand its engineering team.

"We're thrilled to welcome such a world-class group of experienced investors to our team," said Jim Lucchese, CEO of The Echo Nest. "We have been lucky to bring together investors that not only offer financial support, but bring a remarkable depth of expertise in helping us to make online music smarter."

About The Echo Nest

The Echo Nest helps online music companies make connections between people and their music more meaningful through a one-of-a-kind machine learning platform that actually reads about music and listens to music everywhere on the web. The company is co-founded by two MIT Media Lab PhDs, Brian Whitman and Tristan Jehan and is a three-time National Science Foundation SBIR grant winner. For more information, please visit www.echonest.com.

SOURCE The Echo Nest

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