SOHU.com and Sony BMG Partner for 2006 FIFA World Cup Official Music25 April 2006
Sohu.com Inc. (Nasdaq: SOHU), China's leading online media, search and mobile value-added services company, announced today, during a joint press conference, that the Company has entered into a cooperation agreement with Sony BMG, the official music copyright owner of the FIFA World Cup 2006 Germany.
Sohu.com has acquired the wireless and Internet Premier Digital Release rights for the official music of the 2006 FIFIA World Cup from Sony BMG. This includes the official song of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, ''The Time of Our Lives,'' the 2006 FIFA World Cup anthem, ''Celebrate the Day,'' and the Chinese version of the official song of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. During the six month Premier Digital Release period, Sohu.com will be able to exclusively offer a full range of music and video products of the World Cup official music via Ring-Back Tone (RBT), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) to Chinese wireless users.
Dr. Charles Zhang, Chairman and CEO of Sohu.com, commented, ''Sohu's acquisition of the Premier Digital Release rights for the FIFA World Cup 2006 from Sony BMG represents another success in Sohu's extensive World Cup marketing campaign. This follows our recent announcement of Sohu's authorization to deliver exclusive online video content of this popular event. We are excited about Sohu's role during the World Cup and we will continue to leverage our proprietary Internet resources, various print media, television, broadcast media, and partner distribution network to enhance our marketing efforts for World Cup wireless content, and in particular, music. Our team is focused on providing Chinese Internet users with the most diversified World Cup content in various forms of text, picture, audio and video delivered via wireless and online capabilities.''
''As a prestigious music producer and distributor around the globe, Sony BMG is committed to delivering high-quality music to music lovers worldwide. The official song and anthem of the 2006 World Cup is one fine example of how music combined with such an important event as the World Cup can help draw an even wider fan base and increase the event's popularity. As such, we are very pleased to be working with Sohu.com as our Internet and wireless partner to jointly develop the digital market for the official music of the World Cup. We selected Sohu.com because of its large user base, unparalleled advantage in World Cup reporting, unique strength in sports marketing and a dedicated management team focused on providing the best content and services to the Chinese community. Together, we will make the official music of the World Cup the premier choice for Chinese mobile phone users,'' said Mr. Swee Wong, Managing Director of Sony BMG China.
As part of the agreement, Sohu.com also acquired the wireless and Internet Premier Digital Release rights of Il Divo's new album and concert in China. Il Divo, the world renowned cosmopolitan quartet of pop/opera crossover singers, has been chosen to perform the official song of the FIFA World Cup 2006.
An official at China Mobile commented, ''We look forward to working more closely with Sohu to jointly promote our efforts in integrated marketing of RBT and WAP services for the World Cup official music. Through our partnership with Sohu, we believe we will be able to bring the best of the World Cup official music to China's broad mobile user population.''
Mr. Yu Gong, Senior Vice President of Wireless Division at Sohu.com, stated, ''During the World Cup, Sohu.com will offer a full spectrum of products including RBT, WAP, IVR and MMS covering news and information, music and entertainment, to provide mobile phone users with comprehensive World Cup services. We have been pleased with the success in our wireless platform and continue to see additional revenue generating opportunities in the horizon. In fact, in the integrated marketing campaign launched by mobile network operators, including China Mobile, Sohu.com will work in cooperation with them in RBT and WAP marketing for the 2006 World Cup. This will even more effectively promote Sohu's World Cup music products.''
About Sohu.com
Sohu.com Inc. (Nasdaq: SOHU) is China's premier online brand and indispensable to the daily life of millions of Chinese who use the portal network for their news, search, e-mail, wireless messaging, instant messaging, browsing, games and shopping. Sohu has built one of the most comprehensive matrices of Chinese language web properties and proprietary search engines, consisting of the mass portal and leading online media destination http://www.sohu.com ; interactive search engine http://www.sogou.com ; #1 online alumni club http://www.chinaren.com ; #1 games information portal http://www.17173.com ; the top real estate website http://www.focus.cn ; wireless value-added services provider http://www.goodfeel.com.cn ; and leading online mapping service provider http://www.go2map.com . This network of web properties offers vast Sohu user community very broad choices regarding information, entertainment, communication and commerce.
Sohu corporate services consist of brand advertising on its matrix of websites as well as paid listing and bid listing on its in-house developed search directory and engines. Sohu also offers three types of consumer services. Sohu offers wireless value-added services such as news, information, ringtone and picture content sent over mobile phones. The company also operates two massively multi-player online role-playing games as well as a casual game platform, and manages an e-commerce platform. Sohu.com, established by Dr. Charles Zhang, one of China's Internet pioneers, is in its tenth year of operation.
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For further information:
Jessica Zhang
Senior Manager
Sohu.com Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Tel: +86-10-6272-6616
Email: ir@contact.sohu.com
http://corp.sohu.com
Source: prnewswire
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