Merlin Strikes an Agreement with Audiotube

Audiotube positions itself as a key player in editorialized online music video distribution by announcing a global content and syndication deal with Merlin. Audiotube has also recently announced partnerships with industry leaders Dolby and Nokia, aiming to become the Avatar for Independent Music on the WWW and mobile platforms.Chris Blackwell, an investor in Audiotube, says " I am excited by Audiotube and the digital revolution that we are in the midst of. I am confident that a model will be found so that everyone will be fairly and properly paid, that is the artists, publishers and master rights owners".Audiotube Chairman, Paul-Rene Albertini says "Besides being an impressive global professional organisation which is emerging as a leading force in the new music industry landscape, Merlin is also a group of amazing individuals who have brought more talent to the world than the rest of the music industry put together. Reflecting the spirit and passion for new talent of Audiotube's founders, I cannot imagine being in better company".Charles Caldas, Merlin CEO adds “We are genuinely excited at the launch of Audiotube as a key new player in the audiovisual space. The vision and passion of the independent music sector, together with the excellent quality of service that Audiotube and its partners in Dolby and Nokia provide, is a powerful combination. When you top it off with the amazing artists represented by our members, you end up with what is surely going to be a major destination for lovers of the quality music produced by the most innovative and vital sector in the music industry”.About AudiotubeAudiotube is a new media company rapidly becoming a powerful force in the music industry by enabling the discovery and promotion of music video content via next generation playback technologies. The company has quickly become a global player, targeting a large and discerning market. Audiotube connects music fans with the best independent music that exists on the planet. Through patented technology, Audiotube is able to stand alone enabling content providers with the infrastructure and network they need to target and reach music lovers around the globe.Audiotube operates in the fast growing video-on-demand segment. The proliferation of mobile devices that wirelessly connect to the www, the growing population of consumers who can access it across the world and the roll-out of broadband with enhanced bandwidth, provides a stable and fast expanding market. Overlaying this with a relentless convergence of web and television, the www is rapidly becoming the preferred modem for media consumption.Audiotube’s strategy is to focus absolutely on the independent music sector globally. Whilst accounting for c30% of global music sales (by value), independent music makes 80% of the noise. Through the collaboration with Merlin, Audiotube now has a roster of over 6,500 labels representing all music genres, tastes and the artists of tomorrow.About MerlinMerlin, the virtual fifth major, represents the world's most important set of independent music rights. Merlin commenced operations in May 2008 and since then has struck deals with a number of digital services including Spotify, MySpace Music, Sky Songs, Catch Media and Simfy. Merlin seeks to ensure its members have effective access to new and emerging revenue streams and that their rights are appropriately valued and protected.Merlin represents by far the largest and most compelling basket of global independent rights in the world and so offers the most efficient means of licensing this repertoire. Members include Rough Trade, Warp Records, Epitaph, Naïve, Tommy Boy, One Little Indian, Yep Roc/Red Eye, Kontor New Media, Beggars Group, Merge, !K7, PIAS, Domino and Koch/E1. Their artists include Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, The XX, Neko Case, The National, Tom Waits, Spoon, Grizzly Bear, DJ Khaled, Dorrough, Tiësto, Scooter and many, many more.A global organization, its members’ market share in the US alone is reported at around 10%, equivalent to that of the smaller major labels, whilst in Europe member labels released 72% of the top 60 independent albums issued in the past three years and commanded a 11% digital UK market share in 2009. Most recently, streaming service Spotify publicly announced that Merlin's repertoire represented over 10% of the usage on its service.For further information please contact: info@audiotube.com