Thumbplay News

NEW YORK -- March 23, 2009 -- Thumbplay (www.thumbplay.com), the #1 mobile entertainment destination in the U.S., today announced the appointment of Thomas Tracey as Vice President, Product. He reports directly to Evan Schwartz, Thumbplay’s co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer.

Tracey will spearhead the development and introduction of new products, particularly in the area of advanced media such as MP3s and videos. He will also ensure the continued delivery of best-in-class mobile entertainment services for smartphones and mobile devices. Tracey joins Thumbplay from Vindigo, where, as director of product development, he managed a portfolio of cross-carrier and cross-handset mobile applications including MapQuest Mobile, The New York Times, NBC Weather, Vindigo City Guide, MovieGoer and Plaxo.

“Thomas is an accomplished addition to Thumbplay, home to the industry’s best and most innovative team of professionals,” said Are Traasdahl, CEO and Founder of Thumbplay. “He will play an important role as we continue to evolve our products while simultaneously preserving the exceptional entertainment experience our customers have come to expect.”

Tracey will leverage his deep experience in web and mobile product development to further enhance the Thumbplay customer experience across all platforms. Prior to his time at Vindigo, he spent six years in various product development and sales positions with Yesmail, an InfoUSA company, where he was responsible for the strategy, development and support of Yesmail’s online marketing products and services.

Featuring music, videos, games and more, Thumbplay’s extensive and ever-growing entertainment library is accessible on more than 2,500 mobile phones among every major carrier in the U.S., reaching more than 230 million U.S. wireless subscribers. The company has maintained and grown its leadership position by delivering an optimal user experience, which includes its live, “24/7/365,” customer service and an unparalleled catalog of entertainment options. Each month, Thumbplay.com gets more than five million unique visitors and its mobile (WAP) site (m.thumbplay.com) receives more than 12 million page views, making it one of the most popular mobile Web sites.

About Thumbplay
Thumbplay’s award-winning, direct-to-consumer service features licensed content from some of the world’s largest entertainment companies, including EMI Music, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Pictures Television, as well as several independent labels and artists and video game companies. Thumbplay’s mobile entertainment catalog is integrated into Clear Channel Radio, AOL and MSN Mobile sites, as well as iLike.com, one of the Web’s leading social music discovery services. Moreover, based on Thumbplay’s reputation for exceptional customer care and technological innovation, MTV tapped the company to power personalization content for the music giant’s mobile content site. Thumbplay OPEN provides independent music and visual artists, application developers and Web site publishers the opportunity to package and sell their own digital media to millions of mobile customers (open.thumbplay.com).

Headquartered in New York City, Thumbplay was founded in September 2004 by Are Traasdahl and Evan Schwartz. It is backed by Bain Capital Ventures, SoftBank Capital, i-Hatch Ventures, Redwood Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Meritech, Brookside Capital Partners and Cross Creek Capital. More information can be found at www.thumbplay.com or at m.thumbplay.com from a mobile phone.

Labels: press-release

-- Arrangement Brings Together Two Major Music and Entertainment Ventures --

NEW YORK -- March 17, 2009 -- Thumbplay (www.thumbplay.com), the #1 mobile entertainment destination in the U.S., and ARTISTdirect Internet Group, Inc. (www.artistdirect.com), the premiere online resource for music and entertainment news and information, announced today their partnership to offer ARTISTdirect.com visitors direct access to Thumbplay’s extensive catalog of mobile content. Links to mobile content, powered by Thumbplay.com, are now available on hundreds of thousands of artist pages throughout the ARTISTdirect site.

With one of the web’s deepest and broadest catalogues of content, covering every genre of music and film, ARTISTdirect.com has established itself among the top online destinations for 24/7 in-depth coverage of entertainment. ARTISTdirect features one of the largest selections of free music content that ranges from over 10,000 music videos and 7 million albums, tracks and samples to millions of artist pages, as well as news that includes behind-the-scenes interviews, reviews and exclusive artist content with everyone from 50 Cent to Bruce Springsteen.

As the 5th largest Entertainment - Music network property on the Internet according to comScore, the ARTISTdirect Network attracts more than 12 million unique visitors per month. ARTISTdirect’s user demographic is characterized as young, net-savvy and extremely mobile--a highly desirable segment among national advertisers.

“This partnership with Thumbplay gives our visitors and fans access to the best and latest mobile content available,” said Dimitri Villard, CEO of ARTISTdirect Internet Group, Inc. and its parent, ARTISTdirect, Inc. “Thumbplay has been at the forefront of providing first class content and we’re delighted to be in business with them.”

Featuring music, videos, games and more, Thumbplay’s extensive and ever-growing entertainment library is accessible on more than 2,000 mobile phones among every major carrier in the U.S., reaching more than 230 million U.S. wireless subscribers. The company has maintained and grown its leadership position by delivering an optimal user experience, which includes its live, “24/7/365,” customer service and an unparalleled catalog of entertainment options. Each month, Thumbplay.com gets more than five million unique visitors and its mobile (WAP) site (m.thumbplay.com) receives more than 12 million page views, making it one of the most popular mobile Web sites.


About ARTISTdirect Internet Group, Inc.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, Artist Direct Internet Group (“ADID”) controls some of the Internet’s leading consumer music and entertainment information properties. Its flagship website www.ARTISTdirect.com is the premier destination for all things related to music and film and their artists. Through its rich, multimedia repository of contextually relevant information and entertainment, the company creates deep connections between artists and fans that deliver benefits to both the entertainment consumer and the entertainment industry. ARTISTdirect.com receives over 3 million unique visitors per month while the ARTISTdirect Network, a family of related Web sites, draws more than 12.4 million monthly unique visitors. Featuring the latest hit videos, streams, free downloads, breaking news, in-depth interviews with musicians, actors, filmmakers and film score composers, a huge data base filled with biographies and discographies plus hard-to-find information, as well as CDs, concert and movie tickets for purchase, ARTISTdirect.com is the ultimate resource for anyone with an appetite for finding new and interesting content about their favorite artists and their music and films. ADIG’s other properties include the legendary Ultimate Band List, www.UBL.com, one of the web’s first music properties.

About Artist Direct, Inc.
ARTISTdirect, Inc. (OTC BB ARTD – NEWS) is a publicly-held holding company with two operating subsidiaries: ARTISTdirect Internet Group, Inc. operates one of the largest destination sites on the Internet for music and motion picture news, information and streaming music. ADIG also operates an ad network that is currently ranked 5 in comScore’s ranking of music sites. MediaDefender, Inc. provides intellectual property protection and business information services to major motion picture studios, record labels, television networks, gaming companies and software publishers and Internet marketing services to advertising agencies and other clients.

About Thumbplay
Thumbplay’s award-winning, direct-to-consumer service features licensed content from some of the world’s largest entertainment companies, including EMI Music, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Pictures Television, as well as several independent labels and artists and video game companies. Thumbplay’s mobile entertainment catalog is integrated into Clear Channel Radio, AOL and MSN Mobile sites, as well as iLike.com, one of the Web’s leading social music discovery services. Moreover, based on Thumbplay’s reputation for exceptional customer care and technological innovation, MTV recently tapped the company to power personalization content for the music giant’s mobile content site.

The recently-launched Thumbplay Open provides independent music and visual artists, application developers and Web site publishers the opportunity to package and sell their own digital media to millions of mobile customers (open.thumbplay.com).

Each month, Thumbplay.com gets more than five million unique visitors and its mobile (WAP) site (m.thumbplay.com) receives more than 12 million page views, making it one of the most popular mobile Web sites.

Headquartered in New York City, Thumbplay was founded in September 2004 by Are Traasdahl and Evan Schwartz. It is backed by Bain Capital Ventures, SoftBank Capital, i-Hatch Ventures, Redwood Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Meritech, Brookside Capital Partners and Cross Creek Capital. More information can be found at www.thumbplay.com or at m.thumbplay.com from a mobile phone.

Labels: press-release

This Web site is the one-stop destination for your cell phone. From ringtones and videos to wallpapers and games to MP3s, there is a lot to choose from to customize a cell phone.What sets it apart:There are a host of sites offering digital music downloads, but what differentiates Thumbplay is its comprehensive collection of songs. "We have deals with every major record company, independent labels and artists, as well as game and video content providers," said Susan Lietz, vice president for Corporate Communications of Thumbplay. "And specifically, our selection of full-songs, games and videos is really great - so whatever your tastes are, we've got something for you.

"The site includes Aggie fight songs in the music library, and during the election season the site offered Obama ringtones and videos. It is pretty much up to the imagination to what digital music and videos can be found.Thumbplay has great coverage and works with major mobile carrier services. It reaches out to more than 2,500 models, so in all probability your phone will be covered.

"The moment you enter your mobile number, our service 'recognizes' what type it is and provides specific recommendations for the best media for your handset," Leitz said.The customer service on the Web site is top-notch and available at all times. What's great about the customer service is that instead of being greeted by voice recording machines, you get to speak with real people no matter when you call. Customer service is not restricted to phones; it is accessible by text messages.

One feature of Thumbplay is if you are an independent artist or you invented a ringtone, you can sell it on "Thumbplay Open" and get paid for your work. Signing up is free, and the application provides a platform for amateur artists to sell their work. You can also sell mobile applications you developed on Thumbplay.Another function of the site is the "locker." This automatically stores purchases from Thumbplay on your computer. In case you change your phone or lose it, you always retain all your Thumbplay entertainment.

Price:
Thumbplay does not have individual prices for each service.

Instead, you sign up for an account subscription for $9.99 a month. You earn credits, which you can use for any of the services. New subscribers get bonus credits. For example, a subscription will give you 10 credits a month, an MP3 purchase gives you two credits and a ringtone comes for one credit. This gives you a lot of flexibility in choice and lets you browse the huge range of offered entertainment. The flipside of this subscription is if you want only one song, you end up paying more. Subscriptions can be cancelled anytime.

Conclusion:
Thumbplay is an awesome site for people wanting more applications on their phone. Thumbplay.com is one of the best mobile entertainment sites on the Internet and won an award for "Best Mobile Infotainment Portal" for News/Entertainment in Visiongain's 2008 Mobile Entertainment Awards and Conference in London.

Labels: press