London, 16 Apr 07 - EMI Records today announced an initiative to enable its artists to document and share their day-to-day activities with music fans directly from their camera phones through a partnership with ShoZu, a provider of mobile media exchange services. Artists equipped with ShoZu-enabled mobile phones will now be able to transfer photos and video clips from their handsets to a wide variety of web destinations with a click, giving fans a near-real-time window into performers’ lives.

ShoZu’s service provides an easy and compelling way for an artist to create bite-sized content and immediately upload it from the handset to his or her website or blog, Flickr, YouTube or other online channels. This effectively creates an artist-branded content feed that can help strengthen the connection between performer and fan base.

EMI artists who will participate in the programme include Air Traffic, Gisli and The Aliens. 

Eric Winbolt, Digital Media Manager of EMI Records, comments, “We are continuously looking at new ways to empower our artists to deliver interesting and insightful content to their fans. ShoZu provides the perfect platform with a crucial combination of simple and rapid mobile connectivity that allows fans to get up close and personal with their favourite performers.”

Jennifer Grenz, ShoZu Senior Director of Marketing, adds, “Music industry innovators like EMI are aware of how crucial the mobile channel is in promoting artists. EMI is among the first to establish an aggressive mobile strategy built around ShoZu’s service, and their decision clearly reflects the simplicity, versatility and reach of our technology to a rapidly growing ecosystem of web communities.”

EMI will also be working with ShoZu and its Zucasts service during the music festivals season this summer, where it will be empowering its artists to create content which can be delivered direct to fans' mobile handsets.

ShoZu’s Share-It service enables users to upload photos and video clips captured on their camera phones with fewer clicks, at higher resolution and to more web destinations than any other method. There is no need to transfer files to a PC, interrupt phone calls or photo taking during transfers, or start over in the event of a dropped connection (ShoZu automatically resumes from the point of failure). The service also automatically attaches location tags to images when GPS-enabled handsets are used, providing valuable capabilities for touring artists who want their fans to be able to follow their progress on a map.

About EMI Records:

EMI Records has a rich heritage of artists, from Iron Maiden and Kraftwerk, to Robbie Williams and Sigur Ros. Its dedicated Digital Media Team is responsible for developing artist specific new media opportunities, promotions and web presence, working with brand, online and mobile organisations. As well as the online PR for all artists on the label, it is responsible for commissioning websites for heritage artists such as Kate Bush and Pink Floyd, and developing innovative digital marketing campaigns for breaking artists including The Magic Numbers and Corinne Bailey Rae. Visit www.emimusic.co.uk for more information.

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