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BlackPlanet.com's Open Mic Night Offers African American Musicians the Opportunity of a Lifetime

NEW YORK, April 12, 2000 - BlackPlanet.com, the fastest-growing Web site targeting African Americans, is fueling the black community with the power of technology. A true testament of this is the kick off of its Heavy Rotation CD Tour, starting March 30th at South Carolina State University, where an Open Mic search for talented Black musicians will be held. One contestant will be chosen to compete against winners from across the country for a coveted spot on the sure-to-be a hit Heavy Rotation CD Volume II. Heavy Rotation CD Volume I, available this April on BlackPlanet.com, featuring new songs from Prince, Toni Braxton, Talib Kweli and other notable musicians, is a statement of the power of information technology to democratize creativity.

The Heavy Rotation tour will visit fifteen different college campuses between March 30 and May 4, offering participants the opportunity to perform music in front of their peers. One winner from each location and other winners selected from music sent directly to BlackPlanet.com will have their songs featured on BlackPlanet.com from May to June. BlackPlanet.com members will then have the opportunity to vote on the site for their favorite newcomer. The top five musicians will be selected to be part of a blowout competition in June to determine who gets the sought-after position on the Heavy Rotation Volume II CD. The winner will be announced at the end of the summer.

"We believe that music is the language of culture and therefore black music and black culture are irrefutably linked," said Omar Wasow, executive director of BlackPlanet.com. "In the past, due to the resources needed to produce, distribute and promote music, black music was not a true reflection of black culture. Instead, what we heard was the interpretation of a powerful few," he added.

BlackPlanet.com enables members to be an integral force in generating site content. By presenting musicians with a place to be heard by their peers, the site offers members of the African American community an opportunity to decide what they want to listen to. "Many Internet sites are built around the model where the influential communicate information to the masses, but BlackPlanet.com gives the masses a powerful voice to communicate with the influential," said Wasow. With visions of defying the digital divide and providing digital opportunities, BlackPlanet.com enables members to utilize free self-publishing tools and communication applications to be actively involved in the entire process.

Interested musicians should check the Music and Entertainment Channel on www.BlackPlanet.com for information on how to register for the Open Mic Session or where to send music submissions.

About BlackPlanet.com
Launched in September 1999, BlackPlanet.com has become the #1 online community for African Americans, with over 1,000,000 registered members and as many as 200 million monthly pageviews. BlackPlanet.com delivers a FREE service combined with state-of-the-art technology. Members enjoy personal pages, email, chat, and instant messaging as well as innovative content and current events relevant to the African American community. User-to-user interaction is facilitated through forums, polls, and Internet telephony. For more information log onto http://www.BlackPlanet.com.

About Community Connect Inc.
Community Connect Inc. creates and builds interactive online communities targeted towards different ethnic affinity groups. Community Connect Inc.'s first site, AsianAvenue.com, is the largest media outlet for Asian Americans with over 1,000, 000 registered members. The site offers a combination of customized home pages, chat, forums and editorial important to the Asian American community. Community Connect Inc., the leading publisher of ethnic online communities, plans a site for the Latin community in the latter part of 2000.

Community Connect Inc. was listed as the largest minority network by Media Metrix, February 2000.