Former Sony Chief Ienner Launches IMHO Alpha

NEW YORK, March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The IMHO player, a cloud-based social content player with robust communication, sharing and messaging features that enables users to share premium licensed video, music and other kinds of content with friends on a variety of online and social platforms, has been launched today as a technology preview on nuTsie.com and ourstage.com.  The IMHO player enables users to communicate with friends, make content recommendations, share experiences and purchase merchandise associated with a wide range of content.  Wrapped in an engaging, personalized environment that rewards users for engaging with advertisers, users choose their own payment paths in what is one of the first "hybrid" platforms to offer both cash and advertising-based solutions for monetization of premium on-demand content consumption.  

During its initial launch targeting Facebook users, IMHO will conduct public scalability tests with music, video, game and radio content before launching a full open Beta test in the Spring.  IMHO currently offers a vast catalogue of music from around the world through its premier partnership with The Orchard including artists such as RJD2, Green Day, Death Cab for Cutie, Butch Walker, The Raveonettes, Wu-Tang Clan, Local Natives, Coldplay, Wynton Marsalis, Surfer Blood, and many more.  IMHO 's radio player, a partnership with Melodeo's nuTsie.com, contains over 150 radio stations with tens of thousands of the top songs played on iTunes from major label artists like Lady Gaga, Ludacris, Jay-Z, Taylor Swift, Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna, John Mayer and hundreds more.  For games, IMHO partnered with Real Networks, Inc. to deliver over 900 casual games from top developers with up to 3,500 planned for release later this year.  IMHO also has a formidable backlog of content being integrated for the Beta launch including a marquis catalog of over 1,600 major studio films from Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Lions Gate Entertainment, Paramount Pictures and many others through a distribution partnership with Film Fresh.        

"After 18 months of tireless efforts to build a great catalog of premium content and a player that meets today's social demands of users, we are proud of our initial technology launch," says IMHO CEO Don Ienner (who previously served as Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Label Group and Columbia Records). "The IMHO player allows users real portability and consumption of their favorite content in their favorite places and offers brands and content owners a way to own their 'off-portal' content consumption and monetization in an unprecedented way."  

"The technology partnership between Melodeo and IMHO is about content in the cloud, where you can get it anytime, anywhere," said Melodeo CEO Jim Billmaier.  "Our technology is a natural fit with IMHO's strength online and on social networks and Melodeo's strength on mobile platforms.  This partnership provides a next generation combination of cloud platforms that delivers what users are demanding."

"We are very excited to be working with such a bleeding-edge company as IMHO.  This extraordinary new player will allow fans, from a broad variety of platforms, a new and exciting way to learn about, enjoy, and interact with top OurStage artists - benefitting our artists, our company, and music fans alike," Ben Campbell, Founder and CEO of OurStage.

"Built to monetize digital media consumption on social networks and major online portals, IMHO represents a watershed moment for content owners, advertisers and fans alike to generate meaningful connections and revenue streams on the Internet and mobile platforms," said Steve Haase, EVP Business Development at The Orchard. "The Orchard is proud to have partnered with IMHO as they ramp up for their commercial launch and look forward to introducing the application to our clients in the near future."  

About IMO Entertainment LLC

IMO Entertainment is an early stage company focusing on building applications and services that benefit from the rapid development of social networks and the continuing deployment of digital devices to provide ways for content partners to expand reach and revenue potential.  The IMHO Player, the company's first flagship product, is a website-embeddable content player with unique social, content sharing and content monetization features.  When integrated with the company's proprietary DashBid advertising system, the IMHO player provides both custom and turnkey solutions for advertisers seeking to place messages within social networks around highly dynamic premium content. To learn more about IMHO's preview, please go to http://preview.imhomedia.com.

About Melodeo, Inc.

Melodeo, Inc. is a leader in delivering music and other media to the Web and mobile devices.  Through products such as nuTsie and Mobilcast, Melodeo combines powerful content, a simple user interface and access from any device, making it easy to enjoy and share entertainment anytime and anyplace.  Melodeo reaches hundreds of millions of wireless and Web customers through distribution deals and customer relationships with Verizon, Alltel/Verizon, Microsoft, Apple, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, O2, RIM, Handmark, Handango, Thumbplay, Danger, Motorola, Nokia, 3, Korean Telecom Freetel (KTF), Starbucks, eHarmony, Madacy Entertainment, Nettwerk Music Group and others.  Melodeo's mobile entertainment services are compatible with the majority of mobile handsets on the market.

About OurStage

OurStage is an online music platform where artists, fans and music industry professionals come together to enjoy, discover, and influence the best NEW music. Undiscovered artists submit their tracks to monthly music channels, fans rank the songs in proprietary OurStage judging engine that cannot be cheated or gamed, and industry professionals keep tabs on who's rising through the charts, rewarding the best of the best with extraordinary opportunities. Fans and artists are eligible for monthly prizes and life-altering opportunities, made possible through OurStage's partnerships with media giants such as MTV; key radio conglomerates like Citadel and Radio One; leading Web outlets like AOL Music; and major music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Bumbershoot, Noise Pop and CMJ.  Founded in 2007, OurStage delivers music and editorial coverage to 4 million monthly visitors from more than 170 countries, as well as development tools to more than 120,000 artists.  You can learn more about OurStage online at the following link:  www.ourstage.com/about/us

To learn more about IMHO's preview, please go to http://preview.imhomedia.com.

SOURCE IMO Entertainment LLC