Billboard and iLike Collaborate to Produce the First-Ever Social Media Based Music Charts
Multi-tiered chart and content initiative showcases iLike's leading status as a social music discovery service and artist/fan community
New York, NY – October 22, 2007 – Billboard, the world's premiere music chart provider, and iLike, the Web's leading social music discovery service and the dominant music application on Facebook® Platform, have teamed up to create the first social media based music charts drawing from the massive volume of daily music activity that iLike tracks across the internet. Through this collaboration, iLike and Billboard will create compelling, weekly charts reflecting which songs are most popular each week among iLike users on Facebook, as well as leveraging iLike's popular desktop software to monitor the top songs that users are adding to their personal iTunes and Windows Media collections. Additionally, live Billboard newsfeeds will soon be available to iLike's more than to 14 million users. This multi-tiered chart and content initiative was announced today at Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter's Mobile Entertainment Live! conference at the Wireless I.T. and Entertainment event for CTIA – The International Association for the Telecommunications Industry. This marks the first time a social media company has collaborated with Billboard to chart the music preferences of its users.
Billboard will feature two ongoing, weekly charts based on the listening habits of iLike's more than 14 million registered users on iLike.com and Facebook. The first chart will report on the week's top 25 "most added" songs to Facebook user profiles. The second chart will leverage iLike's popular desktop plugins for iTunes and Windows Media Player to monitor the top 25 songs consumers are adding to their personal music libraries on their desktops and iPods. By collaborating with the fastest growing online music service, Billboard will provide its readers with unique access to the listening habits of millions of music fans who rely on iLike to discover new music, connect with friends over music and interact with their favorite artists via iLike's newly launched Artist Service Platform.
"Billboard has been quick to adapt the ever-changing media landscape, and this collaboration with iLike is the latest initiative for the brand, and its parent company Nielsen Business Media, in driving new media platforms to deliver the information our audiences want and need, however they want, whenever they want it," said Scott McKenzie, vice president and editorial director of the digital division of Nielsen Business Media. "The popularity of iLike makes this data a compelling tool for music lovers to discover new music as well as for marketers to track audience trendlines," he added. "We're thrilled to be bringing the music and social media industries together in such an innovative way."
"These new syndicated charts reflect iLike's unique vantage point: while helping users discover music based on their tastes, we also track how they interact with music on the Web and their desktops, and we're now making this data broadly available via our collaboration with Billboard, the premier weekly music publication," said Ali Partovi, CEO of iLike. "As the dominant music application among Facebook users, iLike is rapidly being adopted by artists and labels as their preferred vehicle for cultivating fan communities on Facebook. We expect our Billboard charts will become important tools for the industry."
The two highly anticipated iLike charts will be available every week at www.billboard.com and www.billboard.biz and will also appear in the pages of Billboard magazine.
In addition, Billboard will provide up-to-the-minute music news to iLike's rapidly growing community of music lovers. These live newsfeeds will be incorporated throughout contextually relevant locations on iLike.com and iLike on Facebook, and will include headlines and story synopses.
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About Billboard
Now in its 113th year, Billboard is the world's premier weekly music publication and diverse digital, events and brand, content and data licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video, gaming, media, digital and mobile entertainment issues and trends. Billboard is the flagship property for the Billboard Information Group, which also consists of Billboard.biz, Billboard.com, Billboard Chart Alert, Billboard Information Network (BIN), Billboard Directories, Billboard Books, Billboard Licensing & Events and Radio & Records. Billboard's many strategic partners include Microsoft, Reuters, Sirius Satellite Radio, Telemundo, Univision Radio, ABC Radio Networks, Azteca America and Billboard's proprietary data, charts and information resources to develop broadcast entertainment, digital and mobile platforms and contextual commerce applications that expand Billboard's franchise and consumer reach. Billboard is published by Nielsen Business Media, a part of The Nielsen Company, a global information and media company.
About iLike
iLike is the Web's leading social music discovery service and the dominant music application on Facebook Platform. With over 14 million registered users, iLike helps consumers discover and share playlists, new music, and concerts that match their tastes. The iLike Sidebar for iTunes recommends new music, creates automatic playlists, and connects people through music. iLike's Artist Service Platform is a suite of services to help artists build viral fan communities. By leveraging iLike's "Artist-Fan Graph," a vast database of connections between consumers and their favorite artists, iLike's Artist Services Platform transforms the way artists cultivate and communicate with their fanbases on iLike and Facebook. iLike is privately funded by Ticketmaster (IAC), Khosla Ventures, Bob Pittman, and other private investors. Based in Seattle, WA, the company also operates indie music community GarageBand.com.
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