MUMBAI: Zimbalam, the largest digital music distribution and marketing network, today announced the launch of the US version of its distribution network. Zimbalam, owned by independent music distributor and service provider Believe Digital, provides artists with access to 25 of the most popular music stores such as iTunes and Spotify and unprecedented global reach through several hundred additional stores worldwide.

With Zimbalam, our goal is to bring the largest distribution network, the strongest marketing tool set and the greatest revenue potential, all at the lowest price point, to the US independent music community...

Zimbalam delivers transparency and marketing control to artists with real-time daily sales data, CRM tools such as email newsletters and social networking promotional widgets. Zimbalam's widgets make global marketing easy by automatically detecting a person's location and then promoting to the most popular music stores for that region.

To maximize artist revenues, Zimbalam simply charges an industry-low annual fee so artists can keep 100% of royalties. Zimbalam's nominal fee is $29.99 in year one then $19.98 per year after for an EP or album. Once the fee is recouped, artists keep 100% of royalties generated from sales. After the initial year, artists are only charged if they have sold enough music to cover the low fees, essentially eliminating financial risk.

To celebrate the South by Southwest (SXSW.com) festival, Zimbalam is offering a special rate through the end of March, with distribution of the first album at a reduced rate of $5.99. Artists taking advantage of the special rate can effectively start making money after only one album is sold. Artists can take advantage of this offer by using the code SXSW when signing up at www.zimbalam.com.

"With Zimbalam, our goal is to bring the largest distribution network, the strongest marketing tool set and the greatest revenue potential, all at the lowest price point, to the US independent music community," said Believe Digital and Zimbalam CEO Denis Ladegaillerie. "We want to make sure that independent artists have the chance to not just realize the best business opportunities, but also to realize the opportunity to break through on a global basis."

Bridging the gap between the independent music community and major labels, Zimbalam also gives artists with breakout potential the opportunity to benefit from the A&R team of parent company Believe Digital (www.believedigital.com). Artists with strong performance on the Zimbalam network are assigned a personal A&R manager to provide valuable advice and support on release strategy, marketing and promotion investment and to ensure they are receiving the greatest exposure while maximizing monetization opportunities.

Believe Digital is the largest distributor for independent music community, based on both geographic reach and number of distribution outlets. Founded by top music executives from companies including Vivendi Universal, MP3.com, eMusic, BMG Entertainment and Sony, the company has received support from top VCs XAnge and Ventech. Internationally, Believe is supported by a staff of 70 dedicated employees in six countries across Europe (the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal) and the United States.