Sugababes Explode onto 3G Wireless

Europe : A brand new channel in music marketing and promotion based on 3G multimedia messaging is today being powered by VoxSurf's mobile video solutions. The company has teamed up with Island Records to launch a new service enabling fans of Sugababes to dial shortcode 62003 from their 3G handsets to access a multimedia portal with content including video clips of their latest single, Push The Button, and personal videomail greetings from the band. Island Records is the first music label in the UK to offer a 3G video service of this kind to fans.

The VoxSurf-built portal is accessed by simply dialling shortcode 62003 from any 3G mobile handset, on supported networks. Accessed by simply making a videocall, the user interface is extremely straightforward to navigate. By pressing buttons "1" through "9" users can access messages from the individual band members, view their music videos and other multimedia content.

Island Records is unleashing this service on Sugababes fans across the UK on 3 October, a week prior to the release of the band's new album - Taller In More Ways.

Sugababes are one of the UK's most technically innovative music groups, and are the first to blast onto the 3G scene through multimedia portal technology. Sugababes' fanbase is comprised of both a male and female audience from a broad range of ages, from 12 to 35 year olds. The percentage of mobile users within this customer segment that can access 3G is rising month on month.

"The multimedia capabilities of 3G have created a whole new world for promoting music acts to the public. By providing fans exclusive content and recorded greetings from their favourite stars, it bridges the gap between artists and the public," said Glenn Cooper, New Media Manager at Island Records. "Sugababes are the first group to use this new marketing channel, putting interactive, personal content in the palm of their fans' hands."

VoxSurf's mobile video messaging solution is at the forefront of a wave of new services enabling media companies to promote their wares in increasingly creative ways. By making the experience more personal, with an extremely straightforward interface, 3G users are now seeing the benefits of multimedia portals.

"The music and broadcast industries will be profoundly changed through the advent of mobile multimedia," said Andy Munarriz, co-founder of VoxSurf. "The Sugababes service provides a multi-option, multimedia experience. Up until now, video services have only allowed users to make a videocall and gain a single video clip - our portal is leaps and bounds ahead of those very basic services, and users will notice a huge difference."

Sugababes facts and figures
- The babes have scored 4 No.1 singles - 'Push the Button' went No. 1 on Sunday, 2 October (2005). 'Freak Like Me' (2002), 'Round Round' (2002), & 'Hole in the Head (2003) also were No. 1 hits
- More than 4.25 million albums have been sold to-date globally
- Sugababes have won awards including Q Awards 2002 - Best Single ('Freak Like Me'), Elle Style Awards 2002 - Most Stylish Music Stars, Smash Hits Awards 2002 - Best Album ('Angels with Dirty Faces'), Brit Awards 2003 - Best British Dance Act, NME Awards 2003 - Best British Dance Act
- This year the babes were voted 14th in The Guardian's '40 Greatest British Bands Today'
- Taller In More Ways - the band's fourth studio album - is out on Oct 10th

About Island Records
Island Records is a division of Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 77 countries. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, one of the industry's largest global music publishing operations.

Universal Music Group consists of record labels Decca Music Group, Deutsche Grammophon, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Geffen Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Philips, Polydor Records, Universal Music Latino, Universal Motown Records Group, and Verve Music Group as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the industry, which is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes eLabs, a new media and technologies division.

Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications company.