Universal Music Group Inks Distribution Deal with Image Entertainment

Image Entertainment, an independent licensee and distributor of entertainment programming in North America, announced that it has signed a five-year agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG), a music company, to distribute music and music-related urban programming in Europe, Africa, South America and the Middle East.

The agreement, which includes the entire Image Entertainment catalog of music and music-related urban titles as well as upcoming titles in both genres, covers DVD, Blu-ray, digital and television broadcast rights.

"Universal Music Group has incredible muscle in these regions, and we are confident our programming will get proper marketing and sales exposure through all forms of distribution," said Barbara Gomperz-McCarney, Executive Director of International Sales & Operations for Image Entertainment. "In addition, UMG has an infrastructure to sell directly to television networks which will be of great benefit to us."

Olivier Robert-Murphy, Vice President International, USM at Universal Music Group International, said, "Image Entertainment's company strategy and repertoire are closely aligned with our vision of bringing premium audiovisual content - especially live concerts - to fans around the world through traditional and innovative exploitation channels. Over the years, Image has created an incredible line-up of live performances from artists such as Elvis Presley, The Bee Gees, Cher, The Who, James Brown and Ray Charles. Image was one of the first companies to bring experiences of concerts, events and comedians to people's living rooms."

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