Billboard and Hoodiny form an alliance

Billboard, the world’s most comprehensive source of music, digital data and events, and Hoodiny Entertainment Group (“Hoodiny”) today announced a strategic alliance to strengthen the positioning of Hoodiny’s Latin music community, elHood.com. The alliance will also develop ad-supported online communities for major and independent music labels in the U.S.

The alliance will allow Hoodiny to leverage Nielsen’s U.S. digital sales organization and the premium content from Billboard, to solidify elHood’s position as one of the leading Latin music communities focused on connecting artists and fans. As part of the agreement, Hoodiny will incorporate Billboard’s unique content, including breaking news features, Latin music coverage, and unparalleled chart information, and will make it available in Spanish and Portuguese on Hoodiny-powered sites, starting with elHood.com.

Through Hoodiny Interactive (“HI”), Hoodiny will provide music labels with artist communities based on the proprietary Hoodiny Content + Community Platform (“HC2”). HC2 was created specifically to provide music labels with highly scalable technology that uniquely combines advanced video and music management services with social networking applications.

“This alliance validates the importance of the work that Hoodiny has done over the past year in developing our content and community management technology, and we believe that our combined service will set a standard for the global music industry,” said Demian Bellumio, President of Hoodiny Entertainment Group, LLC. “This alliance comes at a very important time, as we prepare to launch the latest version of our platform, which will allow us to extend our reach beyond a single domain to powering other leading music and entertainment destinations.”

In order to develop innovative monetization platforms based on ad-supported revenue models, Hoodiny and Billboard will initially focus in the Latin market but will seek to expand the online service to major and independent music labels in the U.S.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Hoodiny Interactive and augment Billboard’s platform opportunities in the Latin genre,” said Brian Kennedy, Vice President, Integrated Sales, Billboard. “This alliance will offer brand marketers the opportunity to one-stop-shop at Billboard for 360 degree programs targeting the Hispanic music enthusiast.”




Billboard is devoted to showcasing the best of the Latin music community through ventures, such as the Billboard Latin Music Conference, the world’s largest and longest-running Latin music gathering.
Seeking to leverage Billboard’s longstanding partnerships and initiatives with premiere Latin brands, like Telemundo, Univision Radio, MSN Latino and Azteca America, elHood.com will be positioned as a co-branded, cutting-edge resource for Latin music fans across the globe.

About Hoodiny Entertainment Group and elHood
elHood.com connects artists and fans worldwide through its unique digital user-experience featuring exclusive content from independent and major label artists. elHood, Hoodiny Interactive, and Hoodiny Productions are the three business units of Hoodiny Entertainment Group (“Hoodiny”). Hoodiny assists some of the leading Spanish-Language media companies in the monetization of their content and adoption of leading-edge media delivery platforms. Hoodiny Interactive (“HI”) is the digital solutions arm of Hoodiny, specializing in the creation of custom online destinations for premium content providers based on Hoodiny’s proprietary Content and Community Platform (“HC2”). Hoodiny has offices in Miami Beach, Los Angeles, and Madrid. To learn more or join the community, please visit http://www.Hoodiny.com and http://www.elHood.com.

About Billboard
Now in its 113th year, Billboard is the world's premier weekly music publication and a diverse digital, events and brand, content and data licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video, gaming, media, digital and mobile entertainment issues and trends. Billboard is the flagship property for the Billboard Information Group, which also consists of Billboard.biz, Billboard.com, Billboard Chart Alert, Billboard Information Network (BIN), Billboard Directories, Billboard Books, Billboard Licensing & Events and Radio & Records. Billboard’s many strategic alliances include Microsoft, Reuters, Sirius Satellite Radio, Telemundo, Univision Radio, ABC Radio Networks, Azteca America and Billboard sister companies Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. These partnerships leverage Billboard’s proprietary data, charts and information resources to develop broadcast entertainment, digital and mobile platforms and contextual commerce applications that expand Billboard’s franchise and consumer reach.