Distribution Arrangement Creates New Opportunities in Online Advertising for Consumer Brands and Agencies
LOS ANGELES – Traffic Marketplace, the leading independent online advertising network, announced a new strategic distribution agreement with ARTISTdirect Internet Group, Inc. (“ADIG”), making Traffic Marketplace the exclusive advertising and sponsorship sales agency for ARTISTdirect.com and the ARTISTdirect Internet Group Network.
With one of the web’s deepest and broadest catalogues of content, covering every genre of music and film, ARTISTdirect has established itself among the top online destinations for 24/7 in-depth coverage of entertainment. ARTISTdirect features one of the largest selections of free music content that ranges from over 10,000 music videos and 7 million albums, tracks and samples to millions of artist pages, as well as news that includes behind-the-scenes interviews, reviews and exclusive artist content with everyone from 50 Cent to Bruce Springsteen.
As the 5th largest Entertainment – Music network property on the Internet according to comScore, the ARTISTdirect Network attracts more than 12 million unique visitors per month. ARTISTdirect’s user demographic is characterized as young, net-savvy and extremely mobile — a highly desirable segment among national advertisers.
“The addition of ARTISTdirect further enhances our rich audience profiles and increases our network’s reach, notably among the teen demographic,” said Jim Waltz, President, Traffic Marketplace. “Beyond the additional reach, our advertisers will gain exclusive access to a dynamic network of popular sites and an extensive variety of advertising packages. This new partnership with ARTISTdirect continues our commitment to invest in products, services and relationships that give our advertisers visibility and innovation that no other ad network can offer.”
The ARTISTdirect Network inventory is now exclusively available to Traffic Marketplace advertisers. In addition to display banners, Traffic Marketplace and ARTISTdirect will offer customized advertising solutions including sponsorships, audio ads, video or audio player pre-roll, custom skinning, and wallpaper opportunities.
“Advertisers are always looking for new and innovative ways to tap into the young adult target,” said Dimitri Villard, CEO, ARTISTdirect, Inc. “In addition to getting more visibility with some of the biggest advertisers in the world, Traffic Marketplace provides us with the market know-how and expertise to integrate advertiser messages into our content in a holistic and compelling way that engages consumers.”
According to comScore Media Metrix, Traffic Marketplace reached 147 million unique users, or 77 percent of the U.S. Internet audience, in January 2009.
About ARTISTdirect Internet Group, Inc.:
Headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, ARTISTdirect Internet Group controls some of the Internet’s leading consumer music and entertainment information properties. Its flagship website www.ARTISTdirect.com is the premier destination for all things related to music and film and their artists. Through its rich, multimedia repository of contextually relevant information and entertainment, the company creates deep connections between artists and fans that deliver benefits to both the entertainment consumer and the entertainment industry. ARTISTdirect.com receives over 3 million unique visitors per month while the ARTISTdirect Network, a family of related Web sites, draws more than 12.4 million monthly unique visitors. Featuring the latest hit videos, streams, free downloads, breaking news, in-depth interviews with musicians, actors, filmmakers and film score composers, a huge data base filled with biographies and discographies plus hard-to-find information, as well as CDs, concert and movie tickets for purchase, ARTISTdirect.com is the ultimate resource for anyone with an appetite for finding new and interesting content about their favorite artists and their music and films. ADIG’s other properties include the legendary Ultimate Band List, www.UBL.com, one of the web’s first music properties.
About ARTISTdirect, Inc.:
ARTISTdirect, Inc. (OTCBB:ARTD) is a publicly-held holding company with two operating subsidiaries: ARTISTdirect Internet Group, Inc., which operates one of the largest destination sites on the Internet for music and motion picture news, information and streaming music. ADIG also operates an ad network that is currently ranked 5 in comScore’s ranking of music sites. MediaDefender, Inc. provides intellectual property protection and business information services to major motion picture studios, record labels, television networks, gaming companies and software publishers and Internet marketing services to advertising agencies and other clients.
About Traffic Marketplace:
As the premiere B2A™ (Business-to-Audience) online ad network, Traffic Marketplace delivers relevance in online advertising by connecting advertisers with their target audience. Reaching more than 147MM unique users monthly, Traffic Marketplace generates in excess of 30 billion advertising impressions each month, delivering more than 20 million leads and customers a year through its targeted display advertising, lead generation, co-registration, email and custom hosted solutions. www.trafficmarketplace.com
