Signatures Network, the artist licensing and merchandising company, has formed a new partnership with Major League Baseball's online marketing division, MLB Advanced Media.
Reuters/Billboard reports that MLB.com will take care of the Web sites and online ticketing, fan clubs and any merchandise they'll offer. Some of the entertainers will include Tom Petty, Ozzy Osbourne, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Madonna.
Signatures Network will offer its connection to the artists and insight into their needs with MLB.com's infrastructure and information technology. The deal will have both sides splitting the profits after all the costs involved. They will also create cross-promotions for the artists.
The first step will have the stars starting their own Web sites for the venture, with between 20 and 30 artists coming on board in the first year. The artist's will have complete ownership and control over these sites.
Signatures CEO Dell Furano said that the sites "will focus on selling music, selling tickets, selling merchandise and building up the fan base worldwide with all the data that goes along with that."
The partnership will help MLB.com significantly enlarge it's new-media infrastructure as their site has grown to 2 billion visitors a year in a little over 5 years.
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