MOG, a music blogging platform, announced the launch of
MOG Music Network (MMN), a new advertising network for independent music blogs and websites, and named
Columbia Records creative guru
Rick Rubin to its Board of Directors.
MOG is a network of affiliated blogs and websites powered by cutting-edge discovery technology that allows the user to find the music, videos, news and reviews that match their personal taste. The company was started by David Hyman, former CEO of Gracenote and SVP Marketing at MTV Interactive, and headquartered in Berkeley, CA, raising $6 million in funding to date, including strategic investments from Universal Music Group and Sony BMG.
MOG Music Network has more than 30 music blog and website affiliates already in place, helping them drive traffic and generate ad revenue. Headlines and excerpts from MMN affiliates’ posts are published via RSS to millions of music fans across MOG and the entire network, who click through to read full posts.
“We’re not just repping ads here,” said Hyman. “MOG has already built the largest pure music blogging platform. Now we’re opening MOG’s doors and integrating independent music blogs into our platform. They get to find a brand new audience while benefiting from our back end of community and streaming music.”
Joining MOG Music Network gives bloggers access to an ad sales force lead by VP, Sales and Strategic Partnerships Alex Brough, who was an online ad sales executive at MTV Networks. He also helped run online ad sales at Addicted to Noise, the first music website, where he originally met and worked under Hyman.
Last December, MOG announced full-site integration with Rhapsody.
And now Rubin is aboard.
“This is a great validation of what we’re building,” said Hyman. “Rick has established himself as one of world’s top music producers because he has a great sensibility for what music fans want. We’re excited to have his expertise help shape the company.”
