Universal Music Group (UMG) Partners With Conduit Labs to Bring Music Discovery Into Social Games

NEW YORK, NY and CAMBRIDGE, MA, Apr 06 (MARKET WIRE)
--
Universal Music Group (UMG), the world's leading music company, and top
online social music gaming company Conduit Labs today announced a
partnership that provides users of such popular social games as Music
Pets, Super Dance and Loudcrowd access to UMG's library of chart-topping
music. This catalog of licensed music enables Conduit to unite the
excitement of social game play with the widespread appeal of music
discovery.

Conduit Labs develops free-to-play social games for the web in which
users can purchase virtual items to further enhance and personalize their
experience. Through this agreement with UMG, and within the context of
the company's various properties, Conduit Labs can now offer its over 1
million users the chance to discover, collect and recommend tracks from
many of the world's most prominent artists. This business model benefits
participating record labels through direct sharing of virtual goods
revenue, with additional opportunities for users to separately purchase
digital downloads and other products.

"Conduit has created a truly dynamic platform for consumers to discover
and enjoy music," stated David Ring, Executive Vice President of Business
Development and Business Affairs for UMG's eLabs. "And no one is better
positioned to take full advantage of the many opportunities unfolding in
social gaming than UMG. Our incredible roster of chart-topping artists
and deep catalog provide our partners and consumers with a wealth of well
known artists and brands that create real value and provide for a more
engaging experience."

The social gaming industry has seen incredible growth over the past year,
with virtual item sales in North America estimated to exceed $1.6 billion
in 2010, according to Inside Networks. This rapidly-growing ecosystem --
over 100 million daily active users among the top 20 Facebook
applications alone -- lacked a breakout success in the music games genre
before Music Pets, which surpassed one million users less than 30 days
after its launch. The music discovery game is currently one of the top 20
fastest-growing games on Facebook and was recently called one of the
"most talked about applications" by Social Times.

"We are excited to offer the fans of such a wide variety of artists the
opportunity to turn music discovery into a fun and social experience
again," said Nabeel Hyatt, Founder and CEO, Conduit Labs. "Partnerships
like this will help us continue towards our goal of building online games
and music discovery experiences with social value beyond game play."

For more details or to download screenshots and logos, visit:
http://conduitlabs.presslift.com/universal.

About Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is the world's
leading music company with wholly-owned record operations or licensees in
77 countries. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing
Group, the industry's leading global music publishing operation.

Universal Music Group's record labels include A&M/Octone, Decca, Deutsche
Grammophon, Disa, Emarcy, Fonovisa, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Island
Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville,
Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Polydor Records, Universal Motown
Republic Group, Universal Music Latino and Verve Music Group as well as a
multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company
subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most
extensive catalog of music in the industry, which includes the last 100
years of the world's most popular artists and their recordings. UMG's
catalog is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music
Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the
U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes eLabs, its new media and
technologies division; Bravado, its merchandising company; Twenty-First
Artists, its full service management division; and Helter Skelter, its
live music agency.

Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi, a global media and
communications company.

About Conduit Labs
Conduit Labs is the largest creator of music games
for the web and social networks. With an unmatched catalog of top artists
and category-defining games such as Music Pets enjoyed by millions of
people each month, Conduit is defining a new vision for experiencing,
sharing, and monetizing music. Conduit Labs is backed by Charles River
Ventures and Prism VentureWorks, and has offices in Cambridge, MA and New
York, NY.

Conduit's Music Pets allows users to create and care for a virtual pet,
keeping it happy by feeding it the music they love. Each Music Pet learns
its owner's personal music tastes and fetches them songs in a new,
engaging form of music discovery. Users can then build music collections
and visit other pets to share music preferences with friends. Visit Music
Pets on Facebook at http://apps.facebook.com/musicpets

In Super Dance, Facebook users explore different clubs and playlists,
where they level up to unlock new clubs and international venues by
mastering a variety of dance moves. Users can personalize their
characters with clothing, accessories, new moves, and songs collected.
Visit Super Dance on Facebook at http://apps.facebook.com/playsuperdance.

Press Contacts:
Jennifer Lankford
831-600-8708
Email Contact

Maria Ho-Burge
212.331.2569
Email Contact

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

-0-