While EA will continue to license music through EA TRAX, the creation of Next Level Music is a ground-breaking first in the games business. Next Level Music's role will be analogous to that of the major music publishing companies founded by the great motion picture studios during the last century.
Gamers will enjoy first-rate production values and A-list musicians while the artists will benefit from deep exposure to the core 18-34 demographic and increased promotion through unique commercial exploitation.
Cherry Lane, in addition to creating and acquiring new music for Next Level will be charged with the exploitation outside the gaming fraternity of EA's existing music catalog which reaches back through twenty-two years of sound recordings including theme songs from such blockbuster video game titles as Medal of Honor, The Sims and the outstanding football franchise Madden NFL football. Highlighting the EA catalog are pieces from Mark Mothersbaugh, Paul Oakenfold, Chris Lennertz, Sean Callery, Mya and other notable artists.
"Video games have changed the way the world hears music and EA has led the way. We could not imagine a better partner in our new creative music venture than Cherry Lane. Together, we have the ability to acquire publishing catalogs of established artists and to sign and develop new artists and songwriters, providing them with unique opportunities for success,'" said Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Audio at EA.
"When it comes to interactive entertainment, EA is the best in the business. We like to think that we enjoy similar stature in the music publishing industry. The potential synergy is boundless," said Cherry Lane Music President, Aida Gurwicz. "EA's video game empire affords us a unique platform upon which to build a great and diverse music publishing company, tapping every genre of contemporary music. It is our shared goal to develop a music publishing company that will not only be preeminent in the video game industry but will rival the best in the music publishing industry. We're psyched and can't wait to 'get in the game.'"
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, EA posted revenues of $2.96 billion for fiscal 2004. The company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers and the Internet. In 2003, EA had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. Electronic Arts markets its products under three brand names: EA SPORTS, EA GAMES and EA SPORTS BIG.
About Cherry Lane Music Publishing
Cherry Lane, with its extensive catalog of copyrights and library of masters spanning virtually all genres of music, is known for its expertise in copyright exploitation and administration. The Cherry Lane catalog includes such great standard songs as "Just the Two of Us", "Take Me Home Country Roads," "Come Fly With Me," "Day-O" and "All Shook Up" as well as more recent Billboard chart-toppers including the Black Eyed Peas' "Where Is The Love," "Hey Mama," "Let's Get It Started," the Elvis Presley remix of "A Little Less Conversation" and such DreamWorks' hit singles as "The Middle" and "Hanging By a Moment". Cherry Lane's administration and co-publishing relationships with film and television production companies include DreamWorks SKG, NASCAR, Mel Gibson's Icon Productions, NFL Films, Edward R. Pressman Film Corporation, World Wrestling Entertainment, John Carpenter Productions, Telemundo, Professional Bull Riders, Inc., Roger Corman's Concorde-New Horizons Films, John Malkovich's Mr. Mudd, 4Kids Productions, American Film Marketing Association (AFMA), The Konigsberg-Smith Company, Avnet Kerner, Hearst Entertainment, Regent Entertainment and Leonard Hill Films, just to name a few.
No comments:
Post a Comment