Monday 9 June 2008

Lil' Wayne Announces Pact With Musicane to Sell Downloads of His Upcoming Tha Carter III Release Direct to Fans

Lil' Wayne Fans can also use Musicane to sell Lil' Wayne downloads and
share in the proceeds

LOS ANGELES, June 6 -- Lil Wayne (http://www.lilwayne-online.com)
will sell downloads of his highly anticipated Universal Motown release, Tha
Carter III directly to fans via his website, social network pages and
official blog using the Musicane widget -- a viral player with embedded
commerce capability. Lil' Wayne's Musicane widget will be posted on all of
his official sites offering fans a chance to buy the entire album and/or
individual songs directly from his page. The player will also stream
previews of the album, promotional interviews and, in the immediate future,
merchandise and other products. The digital music downloads sold via Lil'
Wayne's Musicane will be 320 kbps DRM-free MP3's, assuring that the music
will be playable on a broad array of portable and home music players
including Apple iPod's and iTunes.

"Lil Wayne is a natural fit to help further this movement not just
because of his stature in the music world but more for his bold attitude
toward change. He knows that the new model for the flow of music
distribution is rooted in empowering the fans, not the traditional gate
keepers that tend to slow everything down," says Musicane President and COO
Vikramaditya Jain.

Musicane enables direct retail of digital and physical product through
artist websites, as well as through embedded widgets that sit on users'
personal websites, blogs and social networks. Billing, payment processing
and delivery are also incorporated into the widget. Fans can post Lil Wayne
Musicane widgets onto their own social media profiles, allowing them to
share in the revenues generated through sales made from their widget. This
2-way relationship represents a fundamental shift in the traditional
top-down approach that record labels have relied on in the past. Now fans
and key "influencers" can virally participate in the launch of an artist's
release and be rewarded for their efforts.

Lil Wayne will release Tha Carter III June 10th fresh off the success
of the albums debut smash "Lollipop", which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot
100 chart. Tha Carter III, the last of his 'Carter Trilogy', has been
called by XXL "The number one most anticipated album of the year." With
production from Kanye West, Swizz Beatz and Alchemist among others as well
as collaborations with Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, Lil Mama, Ludacris, Fabolous,
Juelz Santana and Robin Thicke The Carter III promises to be one of music's
biggest releases.

Musicane, a media distribution and social shopping company founded by
internet entrepreneurs Vikramaditya Jain and Sudhin Shahani. In September
of 2006, Black Eyed Peas' frontman Will.i.am became a partner in the
company.

Earlier this year, The Universal Music Group inked a deal granting
Musicane a license to sell its entire catalogue in MP3 form via Musicane's
network of websites, widgets and media players. To date, Musicane has
generated over 50 million impressions and created incremental retail sales
around album release campaigns of up to 55%. Recently, Musicane garnered
attention for its distribution of Saul Williams' newest album The Rise and
Fall of Niggy Tardust. Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor came out in
support of the company's distribution services in an interview with New
York Magazine.

See the Musicane widget on Lil Wayne's website http://www.lilwayne-online.com

For more information, please contact press@musicane.com




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