New Unit Combines CBS RADIO Online Assets and Last.fm to Give People More Content and Community Around Their Favorite Music
Industry-Leading Music Group Will Drive Increased Audience Share and Revenue Opportunities for the Company
David Goodman Appointed President of the New Group
NEW YORK, May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS and CBS.A) announced today the establishment of the CBS Interactive Music Group. The new business unit within CBS Interactive brings together the Company's industry-leading digital music assets, including CBS RADIO's more than 100 music websites and online audio streams, and its various mobile applications, as well as Last.fm, a leading music discovery site, to form a single division that will create richer and more immersive experiences for millions of music fans around the world. At launch, the combined assets of the newly formed CBS Interactive Music Group reach almost 40 million unique monthly users worldwide(1).
Leading the new entity will be David Goodman who has been named President, CBS Interactive Music Group. A veteran of CBS RADIO since 2002, Goodman has served as President, Digital Media and Integrated Marketing for the division since December 2007.
The announcements were made by Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS Corporation.
'Today we are combining two industry-leading music properties to form a single group dedicated to music fans everywhere,' said Moonves. 'CBS is in a unique position to bring together the leading-edge technological resources at CBS Interactive with the content, promotional and sales assets at CBS RADIO to drive efficiencies into the business and create unmatched experiences for all of our customers. David is uniquely qualified to lead our efforts in the area, and I look forward to all he'll do to grow this new enterprise.'
At launch, the new CBS Interactive music group will be comprised of the following:
- CBS RADIO streams of its music stations, and web only channels, available online and via various mobile devices, including the iPhone and select Blackberry models;
- The interactive websites for every CBS RADIO music station which offer extensive audio and video programming on-demand, embeddable song dedication and upcoming event widgets, and exclusive opportunities and promotions;
- Last.fm, a leading music discovery site, offers fans millions of tracks in every genre with radio streaming and free-on-demand offerings through partnerships with Universal, EMI, Sony BMG, CD Baby, independent aggregators The Orchard and IODA, and more than 240,000 independent artists and labels. The site also intelligently recommends its 25 million monthly users new songs based on their listening history and music tastes through its proprietary scrobbling technology.
'CBS RADIO and CBS Interactive have been moving down parallel paths to create a new media structure for the future that capitalizes on our unique strengths,' added Quincy Smith, Chief Executive Officer, CBS Interactive.
