SINGAPORE ? Branded Ltd. today announced the return of the award-winning Digital & Music Matters, and Music Matters Live from 20th to 24th May 2013 in Singapore, with brand-new exciting firsts for Asia ? the YouTube FanFest with HP and a full-day HP Music Academy mentoring workshops to help today?s budding artists. For the first time, Digital & Music Matters will also be streamed ?live? via the www.allthatmatters.asia website, giving industry players a chance to be part of the conference virtually from anywhere in the world. Altogether, the online audience can look forward to nearly 50 hours of ?live? broadcast across YouTube FanFest with HP, Digital & Music Matters and Music Mattes Live.

Digital & Music Matters 2012 brought together more than 1,200 attendees from close to 400 companies across 30 countries. Hosted at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore, this year?s conference continues to discuss the latest breakthroughs in the world of music and digital entertainment, coupled with high-level discussions on the challenges and solutions facing today?s entertainment companies.

Digital Matters presented by Windows Azure held in association with Movideo and CASBAA, will kick off the exciting week of conferences on 21st May 2013 and provide a platform for digital entertainment businesses to address the latest solutions to content monetisation. Attendees can look forward to industry insights from top executives from Microsoft, Starhub, Google Asia Pacific, Omnifone, M&C Saatchi and more.

?Globally, almost one-third of online consumer data consumption is attributed to video content, and Asia is at the epicenter of that content explosion. Get into the heat of the action at Digital Matters, where visitors will find out how the latest technologies like cloud computing and big data solutions are enabling consumers around the world to watch what they want, when they want, no matter what device they are using,? said Taras Bugir, Worldwide Managing Director of Media & Cable at Microsoft.

For the first time, this year?s delegates will also get the chance to network with today?s rising YouTube stars through the first-ever YouTube FanFest with HP (from 20th to 21st May) to complement the conference.

Featuring a roster of 18 established and breakout global sensations with a combined subscriber base of 12.5 million and over 3.8 billion views, the two-night YouTube FanFest with HP showcase will include ?live? performances and ?live? debuts of new content makers from the United States, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia and more, as well as interactive meet and greet sessions between stars and fans.

Fans who missed the chance to join YouTube FanFest need not fret as they can watch the performances online, which will be streamed ?live? on the YouTube FanFest website (www.youtubefanfest.com) and stars such as Little Boots, GAC, Boyce Avenue, David Choi and Joseph Vincent will also be making their first-ever appearance at Music Matters Live, the three-night music festival held in Clarke Quay in conjunction with the Music Matters conference.

Music Matters, held from 22nd to 23rd May, is a pioneering industry event in the Asia-Pacific region bringing together key players in the global music industry. This year?s programme features more artist showcases while zooming in on the latest in music streaming; global trends in the music industry; monetising content through the entire digital platform value chain and more.

Music Matters attendees can look forward to industry insights from artist manager keynote by Johnny Wright, manager of Justin Timberlake (who managed stars such as Janet Jackson, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC and Britney Spears); a keynote performance by Gurrumul Yunupingu, triple-platinum selling artist who has been described by Rolling Stone magazine as ?Australia?s Most Important Voice?; and performances by Myanmar?s first all-girl, all-singing and all-dancing band, the Me N Ma Girls; Little Boots, Boyce Avenue, and more.

This edition of Music Matters launches the first HP Music Matters Academy, a formalised two-day mentoring programme that connects international music and entertainment industry leaders with today?s budding artists.

A total of 100 passes worth US$100,000 were donated by Music Matters to the local arts community comprising members of the one-year-old Singapore Music Society (SG MUSO), who will meet and learn from industry experts who are attending Music Matters 2013. In addition, e2i have part-funded an additional 50 musicians to attend the Academy.

Academy attendees can look forward to hands-on workshops with industry experts such as Seymour Stein (President, Sire Records), Dan Teree (President and COO Ticketfly) and Nick O?Bryne (General Manager, Australian Independent Record Labels Association) to learn more about effectively marketing themselves in today?s crowded digital and music space.

?We want to help grow the Singapore digital entertainment industry and provide a platform for breakout acts to learn more from our fantastic cast of international music and entertainment leaders and given the opportunity to perform for the international audience gathered here,? said Jasper Donat, CEO of Branded Ltd. and President of Digital & Music Matters.

The grand finale to round off the week that matters is Music Matters Live powered by HP, a ?live? music showcase featuring 52 acts from 18 countries across six venues in Clarke Quay. This year?s exciting line-up includes three brand-new country showcases from Singapore, Japan and Taiwan to complement the staple line-up from Australia, Canada and Korea.

Featuring acclaimed electronic artist Little Boots, award-winning folk singer Gurrumul, indie pop meisters Club Scouts, Eurovision runner-up Prata Vetra and local art rock band The Observatory, this year promises to be a diverse musical event unlike any other.

Music Matters Live powered by HP will be streamed ?live? via YouTube ( so audiences from around the globe can tune in to discover the latest breakout artists. Students from Singapore Polytechnic?s Diploma in Visual Effects and Motion Graphics programme will be producing the ?live? streaming show from the Fountain Square main stage and given the hands-on opportunity to produce the graphics packages, filming and editing show inserts, as well as shooting and mixing the ?live? broadcast of the performances.

?As the first-ever Asian music festival to be streamed ?live? via YouTube, our students from Singapore Polytechnic will have a rare and important chance to learn from the best in the digital entertainment industry. This could be the first ?live? streaming experience they will ever have,? added Jasper.

Digital & Music Matters is proudly supported by the Singapore Tourism Board, Media Development Authority of Singapore, and Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. Other key sponsors on board for 2013 are: 88tc88, Accenture, Akamai, AsiaWorld-Expo, Barks, Believe Digital, Audio Network, BMI, Brightcove, CIMA, Channel [V], Eon & Asia Pop 40, Fender, Fox, Google/ YouTube, Gracenote, HP, ICON, Invest HK, Images in Motion, KOCCA, Windows Azure, Movideo, MPAJ, Omnifone, Pacific Beverages, Samsung, Singapore Grand Prix, Sounds Australia and the Singapore National Arts Council.