VIACOM MUSIC AND LOGO GROUP LAUNCH CMT ARTISTS APP EXCLUSIVELY FOR iPHONE
02/20/14
The New Music App Delivers Exclusive Content to Country Fans Directly from Their Favorite Stars and a Starting Point for Seamless Music Discovery
App Features Exclusive Five-Song Performance from The Voice Winner Danielle Bradbery
NASHVILLE – February 20, 2014 – Viacom Music and Logo Group today debuted CMT Artists App for iPhone delivering country fans exclusive content including performances, music videos, interviews, news and more directly from their favorite stars. Additionally, the app will serve as a starting point for fans to discover new music and artists including sound ID and lyrics search, while staying connected to the ones they already love. CMT Artists is the expanded mobile companion to Artists.CMT.com that powers CMT/MTV/VH1’s 100 million homes on-air.
“Despite the huge popularity and growth of country music, there’s a lack of recognition that these fans are active smartphone users,” said Shannon Connolly, Senior Vice President of Music Strategy for Viacom Music & Logo Group. “With the launch of the CMT Artists App, we’ve created a genre specific experience that benefits both the artist and the fan to deliver the type of exclusive content and direct fan-to-artist relationship that only CMT can provide.”
To mark the debut of the app, CMT is partnering with teenage country music sensation and season four winner of The Voice, Danielle Bradbery to feature an exclusive five-song performance including her hit single, “The Heart of Dixie,” as well as “Talk About Love,” “Never Like This,” “My Day,” and “Wild Boy” from her recently released self-titled debut album as part of CMT’s music discovery multiplatform “Listen Up” initiative.
“As both an artist and fan, I’m extremely excited about the launch of the CMT Artists App,” said Danielle Bradbery. “Now I can keep up with all of my favorite artists, discover new ones and even speak directly to my fans whenever and however I want to. That’s pretty cool.”
Unlike other music sites and apps, CMT Artists has turned the keys over to the artists to populate and control their own pages so they can communicate as frequently and however they want with their fans. Here’s what you can expect:
•Exclusive Content from Your Favorite Artists and CMT: From backstage video messages from artists like Luke Bryan, personal introductions from artists like Kacey Musgraves, first listens for new soon-to-be-released albums from artists like Jason Aldean to live performances by artists like Hunter Hayes, the CMT Artists App will keep fans and artists connected. Each day, the app will add new content from a plethora of artists.
•Seamlessly Follow Artists Social Pages From One Place: Getting dizzy from jumping back and forth between Facebook and Twitter and still feel like you’re missing out on updates from your favorite artist? CMT Artists streamlines artist’s social feed into one place to keep you in the loop and not out in the cold.
•Artist Info At-a-Glance: In less-than-a-minute, you can read an artist’s bio, learn where they hail from, how and when they got started in the music industry, or even get a list of similar artists.
•Retro Archive Footage: Want to relive “The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia” with Reba McEntire, see what the iconic George Strait was like back when his single “The Chair” was at the top of the charts, or hear Dolly Parton recall the time Elvis wanted to record one of her songs and she had to turn him down? CMT Artists is packed with exclusive interviews and news reports that are not available anywhere else.
•Access to buy songs and tickets: Like what you hear? The CMT Artists app easily allows you to buy albums, singles and concert tickets.
For music fans, the app will serve as the definitive music companion experience to quickly identify an artist or song and then provide a deeper dive into the artist, including a 90-second scan of the artist’s top songs. The app features three entry points for discovery:
•Song Identification: Whether at a party, club or even watching music videos at home on the couch, the app will quickly identify millions of songs spanning all decades and genres.
•Lyrics Search: Can’t get that song hook out of your head, but can’t seem to track down the song title? By simply typing in a few lyrics, fans will not only learn the name of the elusive song, but also get the inside track on the artist.
•Artist Search: Feeling out of the loop when your friends are talking about new artists like Striking Matches, First Aid Kit, Brett Eldredge or artists with a long, varied history like Johnny Cash or Loretta Lynn? One quick click and not only will you be in the know on that artist, but also be able to provide recommendations on similar artists.
The CMT Artists App debuts on the heels of the successful launch of the MTV Artists App, which is now averaging an impressive 4-5 visits per active user each day. On the web, Artists.CMT.com is growing at a strong rate having increased visitors by nearly 57% since launch and now tallying more than 3 million unique visitors each month. CMT Artists App will debut on Android in the coming months.
www.cmtpress.com
CMT, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), is the leading television and digital authority on country music and entertainment, reaching more than 92 million homes in the U.S. CMT and its website, CMT.com, offer an unparalleled mix of music, news, live concerts and series and is the top resource for country music on demand. The network’s digital platforms include the 24-hour music channel, CMT Pure Country, CMT Mobile and CMT VOD.
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PRESS CONTACT: Amanda Murphy 615-335-8408 amanda.murphy@cmt.com
