Loudeye and Akamai Deliver Streaming Media Solution For Farmclub.com

Loudeye Technologies (http://www.loudeye.com) and Akamai Technologies ( http://www.akamai.com) today announced that they are providing streaming media services to Jimmy and Doug's Farmclub.com, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group (UMG).

The Farmclub.com is an integrated website, record label and television show with the goal of discovering new talent. The site allows independent musicians to upload their music in the MP3 format, and potentially win a chance to appear on the Farmclub TV show, which airs on the USA network. Music fans can visit Farmclub.com to vote for the independent band they feel should appear on the television show. In addition to lucky unsigned bands, the television show frequently features well known UMG artists, such as Macy Gray or Eminem.

Farmclub.com (http://www.farmclub.com) was founded in 1999, by Jimmy Iovine, Co-Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M, and Doug Morris, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Universal Music Group. The site launched in February of this year, but only recently decided to outsource its streaming services.

Akamai and Loudeye are providing Farmclub.com a complete streaming media solution for encoding, managing, and delivery of its digital music content. Through its Digital Media Centers, Loudeye is currently encoding music videos and transcoding MP3 files for Farmclub.com. Loudeye is also working closely with Farmclub.com engineers to automate the process by which MP3 files are encoded into two formats and six available bit rates, and then uplinked automatically back to the Akamai network.

"This is a significant win for Akamai and Loudeye. By outsourcing management and delivery of its streaming media content, and its encoding needs, Farmclub.com is able to focus on growing its business and concentrate on enriching its site with more compelling, interactive content,'' said Paul Campbell, Vice President, Media and Entertainment services for Akamai.