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trueAnthem Closes Angel Round With $2 Million Raised: Label Poised to Become Major Online Music Presence

July 25, 2008

Online Music Label's Early Metrics Prove Business Concept Rooted in Social Networking; Adidas Boards as Advertiser

San Francisco (RUSHPRNEWS) July 25, 2008 - trueAnthem (www.trueAnthem.com), a breakthrough online music label focused on the monetization of social networking, today announced it has completed its angel round of funding, raising $2 million. trueAnthem first launched in April and quickly tapped into the social, online music scene with its trueWidget technology. Early metrics released demonstrate an impressive 500+ percent increase in fan exposure with 5,000 active brand-sponsored widgets in circulation.

trueAnthem also announced today Adidas would board as the company's 8th advertiser and brand sponsor of the Ultraviolet Sound trueWidget(trueanthem.com/ultravioletsound. Ultraviolet Sound, one of the most popular trueWidgets grabbed by fans, was the first artist to release a new album on a widget.

"It is no secret that the music industry is changing. Today, the artist has become the brand and free is the revenue model of the future. The key has been how to monetize this emerging dynamic. With our angel round complete and early metrics proving our business concept, trueAnthem is clearly demonstrating a viable, new music promotion and distribution model that leverages the viral nature of social networking sites," said Brad Barnes, trueAnthem CEO. "Our trueWidgets are directly contributing to an impressive increase in fan exposure for the band and the brand - not to mention distributing albums of ‘free' music for the fan."

trueWidgets live on the social networking web pages of new and emerging artists, and will contain musical content they created. Fans simply "grab" the trueWidget and drop it onto their own websites, thus bringing online music and advertising content to life on their own pages. In doing this, bands harness the power of their friends and fans to fuel their popularity and further distribute their music - this not only benefits the artist, but a sponsoring brand.

In the 100 days since trueAnthem debuted its first trueWidget, the company's offering has expanded to include the industry's first live concert widget (Hootie & The Blowfish's Homegrown tour). trueWidgets from such online music sensations as Ultraviolet Sound (trueanthem.com/ultravioletsound), Nick Black (trueanthem.com/nickblack), Celldweller (trueanthem.com/celldweller), Ryan Huston (trueAnthem.com/RyanHuston), Hootie & The Blowfish (trueanthem.com/hootie), among others, have been repeatedly passed across the Internet's countless social networking sites, including MySpace, Facebook, etc., with active impressions in the millions.

The sleek trueWidget and its proprietary technology capture data on the widget's total exposure via social networking, including views, listening data, as well as demographics and song downloads. An artist's song can be streamed or downloaded for listening offline, and the fan can choose either a free song with an embedded advertiser-sponsored trueAd or an ad-free version for .99 cents.
"We've only just begun to scratch the surface of what's possible. The opportunity to grow this space is enormous and goes well beyond what you see today," added Barnes.

 
About trueAnthem

Based in San Francisco, Calif., trueAnthem is a unique, advertising supported, online music distribution, promotion and marketing company. As a music label for the modern ages, trueAnthem provides online and offline services to promote both independent and signed talent. The company's success strategy leverages the viral nature of information distribution on the Internet through social networking, making trueAnthem a leader in the new world of online music.

 

Media Contact:
Liana Miller
eLuminatePR for trueAnthem
(949) 276-8920
liana(AT)eluminatepr.com

Contact Information
Liana Miller
eLuminatePR
www.trueAnthem.com
949-276-8920

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