NEW YORK - (Business Wire) Universal Motown Records and Hearst Magazines Digital Media are partnering for the first time in a multi-platform, interactive venture that gives the senior class of St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens, New York, a star-studded prom concert. Universal Motown recording artists JoJo, Drake Bell, Lloyd, Suai and Jada
— along with a surprise marquee artist
— will attend
“The Ultimate Prom
” on May 30
th at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan.
"The Ultimate Prom" will also be featured in a video series that appears primarily on MyPromStyle.com/theultimateprom (live on February 29), as well as on each artist’s official site and Universal Motown’s site. The videos will follow the artists and St. Francis Prep seniors as they pair off to shop for dresses and tuxes, talk about dates, and get prom makeovers. The artists will also mentor students with talent in the performing arts, giving one student the chance to be their opening act at the prom. MyPromStyle.com, part of the Hearst Teen Network of sites, is an all-inclusive online destination for high school girls planning their most glamorous night ever.
Selected webisodes will also air on Cosmogirl.com, eSPIN.com, Seventeen.com and Teenmag.com. In addition to the video series, MyPromStyle.com will engage its national audience with exclusive prom-themed interviews and slideshows with JoJo, Lloyd, Suai and Jada. There will also be special sweepstakes, offering girls the chance to win CDs, autographed materials, and personal phone calls with the celebrities.
“The Ultimate Prom” initiative between Universal Motown Records and Hearst Magazines Digital Media will impact not only the 1,000 students at the live prom concert, but also millions of online users and music fans nationwide. The joint venture is expected to spark even greater interest and awareness among teens online through the Hearst Teen Network, which includes MyPromStyle.com, Cosmogirl.com, Seventeen.com, Teenmag.com, MisQuinceMag.com, eSPIN.com, and eCRUSH.com. It will also help build the teen fan base for the group of young, diverse Universal Motown artists, all of whom are introducing new music to the market this summer.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to embark on this partnership with Hearst,” said Sylvia Rhone, President, Universal Motown Records. “‘The Ultimate Prom’, which combines brand marketing, on-line, editorial content, and a live event, is a multi-platform cross promotion that enables us to introduce our emerging and established artists to a great target audience of teens.”
“Whether you are from this New York City school or part of our online community, ‘The Ultimate Prom’ will be the one dream prom everyone can feel a part of,” said Christopher Johnson, VP, content and business development, Hearst Magazines Digital Media. “This program offers the perfect synergy between our well-established magazines – CosmoGIRL!PROM, SeventeenPROM, and TeenPROM – our teen network of web sites, including the brand-new MyPromStyle.com, and Universal’s amazing roster of young artists.”
About Hearst Magazines Digital Media
Launched in March 2006, Hearst Magazines Digital Media, a unit of Hearst Magazines, is dedicated to creating and implementing the digital online and mobile strategy for Hearst’s magazine brands and other sites which serve the company’s consumers and audience. The unit has launched or re-launched 18 web sites and nine mobile sites for brands such as Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire and Seventeen, as well as non-magazine brand sites such as TheDailyGreen.com, MisQuinceMag.com and MyPromStyle.com. During this time, Hearst Digital has also acquired the eCrush Network (eCRUSH.com, eSPIN.com), Kaboodle.com and RealAge.com to round out its growing portfolio of interests for teens and women.
About Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group (UMG) is the world's largest music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 77 countries. Its business also includes Universal Music Publishing Group, the world's leading publishing company. UMG's labels include Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Emarcy, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Philips, Polydor Records, Universal Music Latino, Universal Motown Republic Group, Universal South Records and Verve Music Group, as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the industry, which is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes eLabs, a new media and technologies division; Bravado, its merchandising company; and Twenty-First Artists, its full service management division. Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi, a global media and communications company.
Hearst:
Andrew Palladino, 212-843-8482
apalladino@rubenstein.com
or Lindsay Galin, 212-649-2145
lgalin@hearst.com
or
Universal Motown:
Kimberly Harris, 212-373-0701
kimberly.harris@umusic.com
or
Phylicia Fant, 212-841-8640
phylicia.fant@umusic.com
