ThumbPlay Opens to Independent Artists, Apps & Publishers

Thumbplay Open serves two distinct communities. First, independent music and visual artists now have the ability to generate income by packaging and selling their own digital media to millions of mobile customers. Second, site publishers and application developers can sell mobile downloads from any Web site, application or widget. In both cases, users generate income from every new subscriber that comes into the Thumbplay service, $5 - $8 per new subscriber. The service will expand to include games, mobile applications, videos and full-track downloads.

ARTISTS: The process for independent artists to begin making money from their content is just three steps and takes only minutes. After uploading their content, artists can see their unique artist page appear on the Thumbplay Web and WAP sites within minutes. Their content is then available for sale to the millions of visitors to Thumbplay's sites and through Thumbplay's 300+ partner sites. The company's major partners include Clear Channel Radio, AOL and MSN Mobile, as well as iLike.com. All content delivery occurs over-the-air to more than 2,000 unique handset profiles across all major U.S. carriers.

Artists are also given access to a number of promotional tools, such as customized widget creation. They can hand-select content, personal images and even preferred colors and buttons for their widgets, reaching millions of new fans through social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, blogs and Web sites. For offline promotion, artists have the ability to promote their content through the Thumbplay GET program. GET allows fans to text "GET," plus the artist' name (e.g., "GET TAY ZONDAY"), to 84862 (THUMB) and download the content directly to their phone.

Artists who participated in early Alpha testing of Thumbplay Open have experienced notable success. One example includes the internet phenom Tay Zonday. Within a few months, Zonday's earnings from the program topped $10,000.

DEVELOPERS AND SITE PUBLISHERS: Web site developers and publishers now have the opportunity to add mobile downloads to any site, application or widget. They can access APIs and feeds for rich integration, while increasing their page views and return visits. Unique tracking parameters for URLs and API keys can be accessed in less than five minutes and generate additional revenue on a same-day basis.

Thumbplay respects and honors the rights of copyright owners. Accordingly, Thumbplay utilizes best-in-class methods available to prevent copyright infringement, such as the state-of-the-art Audible Magic. Additionally, Thumbplay is fully compliant with all Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown procedures.

Featuring music, videos, games and more, Thumbplay's extensive and ever- growing entertainment library currently consists of more than 100,000 pieces of licensed content. Their award-winning direct-to-consumer service is accessible on more than 2,000 devices among every major carrier in the U.S.

The company has maintained and grown its leadership position in the industry by providing its consumers with the best possible customer experience, including live, "24/7/365" customer service and a commitment to delivering the largest catalog of entertainment possible. Thumbplay's "locker" service also allows users to automatically back-up and store purchased items.

Each month, Thumbplay.com gets more than five million unique visitors and its mobile (WAP) site (m.thumbplay.com) receives more than 12 million page views, making it one of the most popular mobile Web sites