Billboard Magazine and BET on Jazz First Annual Jazz Conference and Awards

BILLBOARD MAGAZINE AND BET ON JAZZ: The Jazz Channel Create The First Definitive Jazz Conference and Nationally Televised Jazz Awards Event

NEW ORLEANS, LA (January 14, 2000) - Billboard Magazine, the international newsweekly of the music industry, and BET on Jazz: The Jazz Channel, the first 24-hour television network dedicated exclusively to jazz music, jointly announce that the First Annual Billboard/BET On Jazz Conference and Awards will be held in Washington, DC, June 7-9, 2000. The conference will be held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Downtown Washington, and the inaugural awards ceremony will be held at the BET Studios. The awards ceremony will be televised on both the Black Entertainment Television (BET) and BET on Jazz networks, making it the first jazz awards ceremony to be televised to more than 62 million homes.

“We are extremely pleased to join with BET On Jazz on this exciting program," said Howard Appelbaum, vice president, Billboard Music Group. “Our goal is to create the definitive event focusing on the business and music sides of jazz. The award show will identify and honor those artists that have made the most significant contributions in jazz music."

The conference will feature two days of panels and industry speakers, an expo featuring products and services dedicated to the jazz community, and live showcases by the world's best jazz musicians. An advisory committee made up of representatives from the jazz industry will help identify key issues for the conference's panels including increasing market share, marketing to a younger audience, analyzing the creative process, developments in new technology, the state of jazz radio and much more.

Paxton Baker, senior VP BET On Jazz comments, “As the only 24 hour Jazz channel, we are committed to provide the best jazz music conference and awards show possible. Partnering with Billboard, the foremost music trade magazine in the business, will bring years of successful conference and award show experience to this new venture. There are important things to come from this partnership between Billboard, BET On Jazz and JazzE.com."

The Billboard/BET On Jazz Awards ceremonies will pay homage to current jazz hit-makers, legendary artists and rising stars in the industry.

After two years of producing their own televised Jazz Awards, Knit Media is contributing their organizational input to Billboard and BET on Jazz and will stream media content from the conference and awards via their website, JazzE.com (www.jazze.com). “We are very excited to be working with two leading media forces--Billboard and BET on Jazz to take the award show to the next level," added Michael Dorf, president and CEO, KnitMedia. “Our jazz supersite, JazzE.com will host the on-line portion of the awards and become the third-leg in helping expand the audience for this important music."

Billboard magazine is the flagship property for the Billboard Music Group, which also consists of Airplay Monitor, Amusement Business, Music & Media, Billboard Bulletin, Billboard Online and Billboard Entertainment Marketing. It is a unit of BPI Communications, a worldwide media company that provides specialized publications, electronically delivered data and marketing services and is owned by VNU USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Netherlands-based VNU, an international publishing and information company.

BET on Jazz: The Jazz Channel is the principle location for the fulfillment of all jazz interests. The network is the first 24-hour television programming services dedicated exclusively to jazz music. BET on Jazz features many of the finest names in jazz through in-studio performances, festivals, concert coverage and celebrity interviews. Many of the shows feature original as well as historic footage unavailable on any other broadcast network.

BET Holdings, Inc. is the first and only black-owned and operated media/entertainment company to provide quality television programming, products, and services specifically designed to appeal to African-American interests.

Recognized for two consecutive years by Forbes magazine as one of “America's Best Small Companies", BET Holdings, Inc. also owns and operates four networks (BET on Jazz: The Jazz Channel, Black Entertainment Television, BET Action Pay Per View, and BET International networks), three magazines(Emerge, BET Weekend, and Heart & Soul), and Arabesque Books, the leading African- American line of romance novels. The company has also established a new film division, BET Pictures II, to develop African-American made-for-television movies and theatrical releases.

Other BET Holdings ventures include: BET.com, an interactive web site based upon a joint venture with Liberty Digital, News Corporation, USA Networks, and Microsoft; BET SoundStage Restaurant, an entertainment-themed restaurant outside of Washington, DC; BET SoundStage Club, a dance club at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando; BET On Jazz Restaurant, a fine dining restaurant in Washington, DC; Tres Jazz, a restaurant that recently opened in Bally's Paris Resort and Casino in Las Vegas; and BET Movies/STARZ!, a premium movie channel joint venture with Encore Media.

KnitMedia has emerged as a unique e-commerce entertainment company which has built itself around the globally recognized brand - The Knitting Factory. Using the New York Club and upcoming Hollywood location, as well as its several record labels as sources of content, the company sells digital downloads, CD's, television programming, produces the Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival and others in synergistic ways via KnitMedia's various websites including JazzE.com, Soundtrackmusic.com, and the Knittingfactory.com.

For more information regarding the Billboad/BET on Jazz Conference and Awards, please contact Billboard's Michele Quigley at 212-536-5002, or email [email protected]. To request media credentials for the event, please contact Corey Kronengold at 212-536-5225 or [email protected].

MEDIA CONTACT:
Michael Lewellen, BET, 202-608-2003
[email protected]
Corey Kronengold, Billboard Magazine 212-536-5225
[email protected]