Press Releases
YouTube and Matador Records Premiere Pretty Girls Make Graves "Make Our Video" Contest to Promote New Album
Band Taps into Power of YouTube Community Offering Winners $1,000, Trip to New York and Other Prizes
SAN MATEO, Calif and NEW YORK, NY. - February 14, 2006 - YouTube, a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos through a Web experience, has partnered with Matador Records to feature an exclusive "Make Our Video" contest for users. YouTube users, through this promotion, are offered the MP3 "Nocturnal House" from the band's upcoming album 'Elan Vital' to create an original music video for the band Pretty Girls Make Graves. The user will then have a chance to win $1,000 in cash and an all expenses paid trip to New York to hang with the band and to see Pretty Girls live in concert.
In addition, the 20 runners-up with the best music videos will get a Matador Records prize pack, including signed CDs, posters and music from artists like Mogwai, Cat Power, Mission of Burma, Belle & Sebastian, Early Man, Pavement, Interpol, and The New Pornographers.
"As an artist-focused independent label, we are continually looking for innovative ways to promote our artists' albums just as we are doing with Pretty Girls Make Graves," said Chris Lombardi, co-president of Matador Records. "Collaborating with the YouTube community is an ideal way for us and Pretty Girls to involve the public as both fans and creative partners."
"The YouTube community is passionate about watching and sharing videos. It is exciting to see progressive, community minded bands like Pretty Girls Make Graves using YouTube to engage their fans and empower them to participate in a culture they helped to create," said Chad Hurley, co-founder and CEO of YouTube. "The explosion in consumer devices with video gives users control over their entertainment experience, and with YouTube people can find videos posted by their favorite bands, discover new music and recommend videos to their friends."
YouTube users can enter the Pretty Girls Make Graves "Make Our Video" Contest by following these steps:
- Download the MP3 'Nocturnal House' from the band's upcoming record 'Elan Vital'
- Make your very own video to Nocturnal House
- Upload your video to YouTube
- Join the Pretty Girls Make Graves Group and add your video
- Sit back and wait for prestige, fortune and fame!
Pretty Girls Make Graves formed in Seattle in 2001, and are widely admired for their electrifying live shows, musical ambition, and personal style. Their new album 'Elan Vital' shows a blindingly original American band who just gets better with each album. 'Elan Vital' will be available in April from Matador Records.
Serving more than 10 million videos daily and growing, YouTube is a fast, fun and easy service for consumers to broadcast original video at www.youtube.com and across the Internet. YouTube launched the official site on December 15, 2005 and is now receiving more than 20,000 uploads per day.
Along with connecting users with videos from friends and family, YouTube is delivering entertaining, authentic and informative videos across the Internet. Users are documenting news events as they happen, filming quirky videos about their interests and sharing first-hand accounts of their travels.
Video sharing on YouTube is not limited to www.YouTube.com. Through its video embedding feature, YouTube allows users to stream videos, both personal and public ones, across the Internet on other Web sites. For example, users can insert their favorite YouTube videos into their MySpace profiles, blogs or personal Web pages. Even as viewers watch videos across the Web, they can immediately share a video through e-mail from within the video player itself.
To learn more about the YouTube-Matador Records Pretty Girls Make Graves promotion or to enter visit http://www.youtube.com/prettygirlsgraves.
About Matador Records
Matador Records, formed in 1989, immediately established itself at the forefront of the international independent music scene with important records by such artists as Liz Phair and Pavement. Over the years, the label has grown considerably with such flagship artists as Pretty Girls Make Graves, Belle and Sebastian, Cat Power, Interpol, The New Pornographers and Yo La Tengo, while maintaining its unflagging commitment to artistic freedom and diversity.
