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Universal Music invests on Loud.com

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Loud.comUniversal Music Group has recently announced their equity investment in Loud.com (also known as Battlerap.com), an ad-supported online street competition portal and community catering to hip-hop lovers, artists, and enthusiasts.

Loud.com has been operating to provide its members the opportunity to mingle with professional hip-hoppers, allowing them to upload their own raps, purchase audio files, and aspire for a record deal with Street Records Corporation which, apparently, is also distributed by Universal.

“Universal’s strategy is to become actively involved in all areas of media where our artists and our music are present,” Nick Henny, vice chairman and CFO of UMG, said. “Loud.com has created an incredibly vibrant and growing on-line hip-hop community that features not only compelling user-generated content, but also the means for users to create their own music and compete for a record deal.”

While this deal further expands UMG’s market reach, it also gives Loud.com a boost in its credentials, having the largest record label in the world backing them up.

Originally posted on August 9, 2007 @ 12:50 pm

Website offers Hispanic business community opportunities to network

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questmente.jpgThe Questamente Network, Inc. announced the launch of its new dual language website designed for Hispanic business professionals and entrepreneurs in the U.S. The site provides free business information on starting or managing a business in the U.S. through its “Library” of business articles, sample business plans, executive profiles, and its blog. It also allows users to interact and communicate with each other through industry forums and its “Office Party” of themed chat rooms and full social networking features. All content and functions are offered in Spanish as well as English.

“Our site allows Hispanic business professionals to form their own Internet community where they can learn from each other and share experiences and opinions from anywhere in the country,” said Questamente co-founder Kathleen Chitester. “There are already more than 2 million Hispanic-owned business in the U.S. and that number is expected to increase to 3.2 million in the next few years,” she added. “There are also millions of Latinos working in professional positions in other U.S. businesses. Until now, however, there has been little opportunity for any of them to connect online and share their knowledge with each other.”

The website also provides a number of tools to Hispanic business professionals with which they can advance their knowledge and careers such as eBooks on relevant topics like U.S. Business Law, Cultural Diversity in Business, Writing a Resume, and Interviewing for a Job. Additionally a job board powered by LatPro, the award-winning job board for Hispanic and bilingual professionals, provides employers access to the most in-depth pool of Hispanic candidates available anywhere and job seekers the ability to search for opportunities to advance their careers.

Site membership is free to all Hispanic business professionals 16 years of age and older. Additionally, as part of its launch, Questamente is offering a full sample business plan, complete with financial pro formas, free to all members who register in August.

Originally posted on August 6, 2007 @ 12:46 pm

BOOMj.com passes one million page views

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boomj.jpgBOOMj.com, Inc., a lifestyle portal serving Baby Boomers and Generation Jones, has reached over 1,000,000 page views, an important major milestone for the growth of any website.

But this is even more significant because of BOOMj.com’s unique combination of social networking, online shopping site, travel network, breaking news and focused content for its target demographic of Baby Boomers and Generation Jones.

According to recent reports by ComScore, approximately 40% of MySpace users are now over the age of 35. The previous widespread notion that online social networking is exclusively for a younger demographic is no longer accurate. The phenomenon of Baby Boomers and Generations Jones joining social networks is evident from BOOMj.com’s rapid growing popularity.

“Baby Boomers and Generation Jones account for 1/3 of the 195.3 million U.S. web users, according to Jupiter Research,” said George Pursglove, President and Chief Executive Officer of BOOMj.com. “In just the last 60 days we have seen positive growth in every category. For example, our new members have increased 10 fold and the time spent on our site has shown dramatic growth to over 7 minutes per member visit. Our members are more active than ever and enjoying constantly expanding features and the new content we provide.”

Originally posted on August 6, 2007 @ 10:39 pm

Allrecipes.com adds new community feature to connect all home cooks around the globe

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Allrecipes.com, the world’s largest social networking site for food enthusiasts, has unveiled an innovative new Community feature that brings the world of food enthusiasts closer together to share their passion for cooking, whether across the globe or right in their own backyard.

It allows users to easily explore member profiles, find home-town recipes and read the latest reviews from more than 2 million home cooks behind the site’s long-trusted user generated content.

“We were proud to be the first to introduce the idea of community to the online food space and are thrilled that after 10 years we’re still driving the industry ahead with tools and functionality that are unique to our community,” said Lisa Sharples, president of Allrecipes.com.

Originally posted on August 3, 2007 @ 10:05 am

Bratz launches we-based community

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bratz.jpgBe-Bratz.com, a dynamic new Bratz fashion doll line and web-based community developed by MGA Entertainment, debuts in beta format. Be-Bratz.com combines creativity, communication, music, great games and hip fashion into one stylish online world where girls ages 6 and up can safely explore and interact either by themselves or with other Be-Bratz.com users.

“Be-Bratz.comâ„¢ is an immersive virtual world that extends the immensely popular Bratz brand into the online space through stimulating activities, a highly personalized ‘MyPage,’ a customizable 3-D room, and fun, safe communication tools. The online experience is ubiquitous in play patterns of today’s young girls, so this connection between doll and web is a natural for MGA, especially given the success of our past toy/web initiatives,” said Isaac Larian, CEO of MGA Entertainment.

Be-Bratz.com is accessible only with a special glam necklace that comes packaged with one of three new Bratz fashion dolls. The necklace doubles as a USB key that unlocks the virtually stunning Be-Bratz.com world. Once there, you’ll create your very own Bratz character and customize your ‘MyPage’ to fit your own personal style. Then, pick a dazzlin’ background, choose your favorite music, and take the quiz to reveal your Bratz personality… now you’re ready to hit the salon, design the hottest fashions, earn points in the Game Zone, and so much more! The Be-Bratz.com virtual world is always expanding and will be adding new and exciting features every month. Outfitted with the necessary components for parents to feel secure knowing that Be-Bratz.com is being monitored for safety, users can text message each other on the site, with live chat coming later this year.

Originally posted on August 2, 2007 @ 11:20 am