Second City, Variety and uPlaya Launch Innovative Talent Contest & More

Music Intelligence Solutions, Inc.'s uPlaya service, the leader in the field of digital music and media discovery, today announced a partnership with Variety, the entertainment industry's global resource for vital, reliable and timely industry information. Variety and uPlaya are teaming up with the award-winning and legendary The Second City, producers of BUZZKILL, to host the uPlaya Music Universe^TM Contest with Variety, which will utilize uPlaya's patented Hit Song Science^TM technology to select a song for placement in the film, directed by Steven Kampmann (Back to School, Stealing Home). The partnership, bolstered by both cutting-edge music technology and industry expertise, is pioneering a new process for the discovery and placement of music in films in the digital age.

"It is difficult to filter through the millions of songs to efficiently find the perfect song to complement a scene; uPlaya's Hit Song Science tool helps music supervisors quickly discover the right song and connect with the right artist," said Neil Stiles, President of Variety. "The contest will allow us to not only find great music, but to demonstrate and explore the innovative benefits this technology offers the entertainment industry."

"Music Intelligence Solutions is excited that Hollywood's premier source of business entertainment news, Variety, recognized the unique advantages Hit Song Science Technology can offer filmmakers," said David Meredith, CEO of Music Intelligence Solutions/uPlaya. "The community of artists and labels using the uPlaya.com service will have the opportunity to license their music to a Steven Kampmann film by The Second City and be featured in Variety."

BUZZKILL blazes trails in its own right as the first motion picture to be branded by The Second City in 40 years. The Second City recently celebrated its 50-year anniversary, and has assisted in propelling the careers of such comedic icons as Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris and Martin Short. With their 2010 launch into online short-form comedy via The Second City Network website, the timing for this "technology meets funny" collaboration couldn't be better. In BUZZKILL, a struggling writer namEd Ray Wyatt crosses paths with a notorious fugitive dubbed The Karaoke Killer, played by Darrell Hammond.

"BUZZKILL is the perfect Second City film - quirky, satirical, absurd, philosophical - and casting eight Second City alums was an absolute no brainer given how they infuse every scene with an improvisational energy and intelligence that cannot be scripted or matched," said director Steven Kampmann. "The uPlaya Music Universe^TM Contest with Variety illustrates a larger trend in the evolution of innovative digital promotion for the film and music industries which greatly benefits filmmakers."

In addition to an offer of paid placement in the movie, the winning artist will be announced in Variety, profiled on Variety.com and uPlaya.com and promoted on the Variety and uPlaya social networking communities on Facebook and Twitter. The grand prize also includes special promotions through uPlaya and its many Web and digital interactive applications.

Artists can submit tracks at www.uPlaya.com. All submissions will receive song analysis from uPlaya's Hit Song Science^TM technology, which includes instant feedback on a song's potential for commercial success as well as digital promotional tools using the Music Universe^TM technology, which applies mathematical algorithms to analyze the underlying patterns of music. Limitations apply; please see official terms and conditions for each contest for details.

The New York Times Magazine previously included Hit Song Science^TM in its annual "Year in Ideas: Bright Notions, Bold Inventions" issue and the Harvard Business School profiled Hit Song Science^TM in a full case study that remains popular at top universities around the world.

About Variety
Recognized and respected throughout the world of show business, Variety is the premier source of business entertainment news. Since 1905, the most influential leaders in the industry have turned to Variety for timely, credible and straightforward news and analysis - information vital to their professions.

About The Second City
The Second City is the leading brand in improv-based sketch comedy. With theatres and training centers in Chicago, Toronto and Hollywood, 11 full-time touring ensembles, thriving corporate communications and theatricals divisions as well as television and film operations, The Second City has been called "A Comedy Empire" by The New York Times.

About Music Intelligence Solutions' uPlaya
Music Intelligence Solutions, Inc. (www.uPlaya.com) uses patent-approved technology to transform the Music Artist experience globally so that no great song goes unheard again. uPlaya services such as Hit Song Science^TM and Music Universe^TM enable proprietary discovery, automated programming, commercial market prediction, and community networking capabilities. Music Intelligence Solutions offers artists, songwriters, fans, social networks, mobile subscribers, and leading media companies a powerful new way to create, experience, share, and discover music and visual media. Music Intelligence Solutions' "intelligent systems" are a natural evolution of over a decade of research and development experience. For more information, visit the company website at www.uplaya.com.

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