NEWS.com.au signs up for mcm’s Take 40
4 Jun 2008
Partnership adds 1m to audience for free audio and video tracks
The audience potential for Australia’s famed Take 40 Chart® has leaped by more than a million following a strategic partnership between mcm entertainment and News Limited’s digital flagship, NEWS.com.au.
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The partnership will enable visitors to NEWS.com.au’s entertainment pages to enjoy the latest audio and video music tracks from mcm’s weekly Take 40 Chart including access to the Take 40 tracks from the past 25 years – all free.
Take 40 content will now be available beyond its own website, signalling a shift in mcm’s digital strategy that takes its high-quality audio and video portfolio across the web in partnership with major media and content companies, who are keen to offer consumers rich streaming content.
This is made possible through mcm’s proprietary Media Player and Media Management technology. Revenues will be generated by selling advertising space within the Media Player.
mcm’s Chief Executive Officer Tony McGinn said the News Ltd partnership was ground breaking and flagged a significant step in building an affiliate network of sites across Australia offering mcm’s syndicated audio and video music services.
“Our online strategy means we are now taking a growing library of music audio and video content to our audience via their favourite sites, rather than expecting everyone to come directly to our sites.
“We are thrilled to kick off this strategy with News Ltd, one of the world’s biggest and most innovative media companies and its popular NEWS.com.au website.
“We are also working on partnerships that will extend our content to other media platforms and continue to widen audience reach, thereby increasing our appeal to advertisers.
“We want digital music streaming to be accessible everywhere, much like the soft drink distribution model. It is digital music streaming via a virtual vending machine, but consumers don’t pay for it.”
NEWS.com.au publisher Sigrid Kirk said: “The Take 40 Australia brand is synonymous with music in this country, with most people growing up listening to the countdown on radio each Sunday. Take 40 is the leading digital streaming music brand in Australia and we are proud to be the only news, information and entertainment site in Australia to offer the music video and audio track functionality to its users.”
The partnership implements mcm’s strategy that seeks to lead the online music entertainment category as large traffic publishers and websites look to enhance their streaming offering.
Anchored on a business exchange model, large traffic websites such as NEWS.com.au will be offered high-end entertainment content in exchange for premium advertising rights and revenue within that content granted to mcm.
Mr McGinn said: “This model offers consumers the freedom to access highest-quality music to enjoy via their regular and favourite sites. Popular high-volume websites like NEWS.com.au can secure music and video content at no cost and the promise of incremental advertising revenue and increased site loyalty.
“And advertisers have a fresh opportunity to reach music consumers on a much larger scale across a network of online channels. A growing network of sites offering mcm’s unique music audio and video streaming solution also creates a powerful outlet for our music label partners as well, particularly given every track is just one click away from a digital download purchase from BigPond Music.”
mcm has struck internet streaming rights agreements with the major record companies to stream advertiser-funded music content within Australia. mcm is one of only a handful of businesses with such rights and its combined music sites makes mcm a leading business in the music streaming market in Australia according to Nielsen Net Ratings.
At the super bandwidth settings1, the Take 40 Music Player on www.NEWS.com.au offers near-DVD quality videos and significantly higher audio quality than standard iTunes downloads and other rival music sites here and abroad.
Visitors to NEWS.com.au can choose from 10 video playlists, ranging from Covers and Soundtracks to Take 40’s Most Streamed as well as stream the full audio Take 40 countdown show updated every week. They can also access artist biographies, photo galleries, and top five facts linked through to the Take 40 website. Consumers will be able to purchase tracks through mcm’s download partner, BigPond Music.
For interviews, pictures or further information please contact:
Campbell Fuller
Burson-Marsteller
02 9928 1530 / 0407 170500/
Campbell.Fuller@bm.com
Pia De Lima
Burson-Marsteller
03 9426 1314/ 0418 311 437/
Pia.DeLima@bm.com
