The Spotlight @ CMJ 2008

CMJ MUSIC MARATHON & FILM FESTIVAL 2009 DATES ANNOUNCED

ARTIST SUBMISSIONS AND REGISTRATION OPEN ONLINE TODAY

CMJ Offers Its Largest Discounts of the Year And

Announces Dates For New York City’s Largest Music Event

New York, NY (November 20, 2008) - CMJ Network Inc. announced today the dates of CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival 2009, Tuesday, October 20 – Saturday, October 24, 2009 in New York City.

Continuing in the tradition of CMJ 2008, the 29^th annual festival will be headquartered in downtown Manhattan at New York University’s Greenwich Village campus. NYU’s Helen And Martin Kimmel Center For University Life will host daytime events including panel sessions, registrant lounges, exhibit area and live performances. At night, CMJ Music Marathon will take over more than 75 premier clubs and music venues throughout New York City, featuring performances from the best new artists across multiple genres in the contemporary music spectrum: alternative, rock, dance, hip-hop, metal, Americana, world, jazz and more. CMJ Film Festival will feature cutting-edge film releases from both independent and major motion picture studios.

“Once again, we are thrilled to celebrate CMJ Music Marathon in downtown Manhattan. New York's oldest, most diverse and vibrant communities create a perfect cultural tapestry for the CMJ attendee with their incredible spaces, venues, shops, restaurants, along with being the home of our cherished partner, the groundbreaking academic institution that is NYU,” said Joanne Abbot Green, founder and executive producer of the CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival. “In 2009 we will strive to present even more compelling music, entertainment, networking and educational opportunities to ensure that the CMJ experience is a memorable and valuable one.”

Professor Catherine Fitterman, Director, Undergraduate Music Business Program at The Steinhardt School, New York University added, “CMJ Music Marathon is an amazing experience for our students. The panel discussions are engaging, relevant, and stimulating, a perfect environment for learning at all levels. Our students walk around campus bleary-eyed from attending the hundreds of shows. CMJ Music Marathon makes Downtown NYC rock every fall!”

"In one week, the CMJ Music Marathon is a microcosm of the musical world. Whether performing on stage, attending panels, or networking, our students participate in every aspect of CMJ many, many times over," said Professor Jim Anderson, Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.

Additions to 2008’s festival included the launch of CMJ’s Community Outreach Initiative and the first-ever official CMJ Artist Lounge. The Community Outreach Initiative partnered CMJ with over 1000 local New York City merchants throughout various neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn, including Lower East Side, TriBeCa, Greenwich Village, Midtown, Chelsea and more. These merchants, including restaurants, bars, shops and cultural destinations—such as Spring Awakening on Broadway and the Guggenheim Museum—offered exclusive discounts to CMJ ’08 badge holders and promoted CMJ week through store signage and targeted outreach. The CMJ Artist Lounge, held at Red Bull Space near CMJ headquarters in Greenwich Village, hosted more than 20 partners who interacted with over 600 CMJ performing artists each day.

Nighttime highlights from CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival 2008 included groundbreaking performances from Lykke Li, Jay Reatard, Broken Social Scene, Coheed & Cambria, George Clinton, Crystal Castles, Passion Pit, Roisin Murphy, Janelle Monae and hundreds more; independent and major motion picture movie screenings including Kevin’s Smith’s Zach And Miri Make A Porno, American Swing, Who Is KK Downey?, Johnny Cash Live At Folsom Prison and A Wink And A Smile, which was picked up for distribution off its screening at CMJ Film Festival 2008.

Daytime highlights included a trade show area and registrants’ lounge at NYU; cutting edge panels including: A Hip-Hop Renaissance featuring Q-Tip, 40 Years Of Funkadelic with George Clinton, Thank God We Got Dropped, Grabbing Web 2.0 By The Horns, Internationally Licensing The Future and The Political Spin Of The Music Industry.

CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival has featured many of the world’s most influential and revolutionary musicians, artists, cultural and political figures at a variety of events including presentations, screenings, Q&A sessions, panel discussions and thousands of live music performances. CMJ 2009 continues in that tradition, highlighting the best new music and groundbreaking films. CMJ Music Marathon, New York City’s largest music event, is the world’s largest emerging music festival, annually drawing over 12,000 professionals from all sectors of the music business and over 120,000 music fans, all of whom converge on New York to discover the world’s best new music.

Registration for 2009 is now open at www.cmj.com/marathon with special early bird prices available until December 19. Artist showcase submissions are being accepted now at www.cmj.com/marathon with a special one-week discount price until November 25.

For more information, log on to www.cmj.com/marathon.