Ultimate Playlist App Provides An Incentivized, Free Listening Experience While Nationally Promoting 40 New Tracks Daily

Innovative Platform Developed By Arizona Lottery Launches Today

AVAILABLE NOW ON APPLE APP STORE AND GOOGLE PLAY STORE

Monday, November 14 - The Ultimate Playlist is a free-to-play mobile app, raffle game, music discovery and song promotional tool developed by the Arizona Lottery. Created to drive connections to new music, the innovative platform offers daily cash raffles and jackpot drawings for listening to, and rating, new songs. The app, launching today, will be refreshed with 40 new and randomized songs per day across musical genres, and is open nationally to players 18 and older on iOS and Android devices.

Conceived by Shevy Smith and Khalid Jones, Ultimate Playlist was developed by the Arizona Lottery which, like many state lottery entities, offers free, non-lottery games and raffles to drive user engagement. As a music promotional tool with incentivized consumer use and democratized access, the app marks extraordinary innovation within the state lottery field. The platform also occupies a unique space at the intersection of music, tech, gaming, and lotteries.

The app’s free play is made possible through partnerships with music rights holders---artists, record labels, publishing and management companies---providing partners with direct, data-driven promotional opportunities targeting a key 18–34-year-old listener demographic. Ultimate Playlist serves as a viable channel and valuable new tool supporting a range of new music at accessible price points for independent and developing artists and their teams. The platform is complementary to and not competitive with digital music providers, allowing users to feed into and replay songs on their digital service of choice.

“It’s been exciting to work with Arizona Lottery on this groundbreaking platform,” comments founders Shevy Smith and Khalid Jones. “Ultimate Playlist incentivizes the listener and creative side equally, enhancing the music discovery and promotion processes with the utmost transparency. We expect both music fans and the industry decision makers to gain from this new venture and have fun along the way.”

“Ultimate Playlist stands alone as a cultural integrator of music and gameplay in one app,” says Gregg Edgar and Chris Rogers of the Arizona Lottery. “It allows the lottery to innovate and broaden its connection with new demographics and new players in a very unique way. We’re proud to have worked with Shevy and Khalid on bringing this concept to life.”

The platform’s players will listen to a playlist of music to earn tickets entered into daily cash raffle and jackpot drawings. At its inception, the app will award $2,000 per day in guaranteed prizes (with prizes ranging from $50-$500) and will award the chance for a player to win $20K each day in a jackpot drawing. Eighteen winners are guaranteed daily.

About Co-Founder Shevy Smith

Shevy Smith is an LA-based composer/producer. After signing a publishing deal in Nashville (Froehlig Palmer Music) as a teenager and working as a staff writer and college touring artist, Smith migrated to the west coast in 2008. Shortly thereafter, she created Forte Poesy, a youth-focused music education program teaching empowerment through songwriting and musicianship. Smith’s curriculum was implemented in public and private schools in NYC, LA, and London. During this time, Smith also wrote, produced, and engineered numerous national tv/film campaigns for ABC, NBC, Soapnet, and ESPN. In 2019, Shevy teamed up with Khalid Jones to form Elite Shout, a creative firm with the goal of leveraging emerging tech to provide innovative opportunities for both developing and established recording artists. Shevy is a ProMax Gold award winner and an Emmy-nominated producer/composer. She has served as Board Co-President for the Afghan Women's Writing Project and is a member of the Alliance of Women Film Composers. https://www.shevysmith.com/.

About Co-Founder Khalid Jones

Khalid focuses his efforts on exploring new solutions to old problems and enjoys deep diving into a diverse array of industries. Prior to Kolier, Khalid was a partner in SourceRock Partners, a boutique investment firm and family office focusing on investments in the real estate, media, sports, and technology sectors. Prior to that, Khalid spent a decade as an attorney practicing Securities Litigation in law firms in NY and Washington, DC. In the past several years, Khalid has spoken at venues such as MIT’s Enterprise Forum, and the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries on subjects including interactive streaming platforms, eSports, blockchain and sports analytics. Khalid is a graduate of Wake Forest University and Stanford Law School.

About Arizona Lottery Executive Director Gregg Edgar

Gregg Edgar serves as the Executive Director of the Arizona Lottery. In his tenure, the agency has generated over $7.5 billion in sales, returned almost $5 billion in prizes to players, transferred nearly $1.6 billion to beneficiary agencies and programs, and generated more than $500 million in commissions to our retail partners. Gregg's fundamental focus on team development, business operations and strategic innovation have shaped the organization’s success for the future. In his role, Gregg has also served as the Marketing Committee Chair for the Multi-State Lottery and the Business Development Chair for the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries. He is a vocal advocate for the industry’s impact throughout North America and leading efforts to leverage value for the Powerball brand. Before taking the helm at the Arizona Lottery, Gregg served as a Senior Strategic Communications consultant for international and national brands. In that capacity, he was honored to serve the White House for eight years and the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, Iraq. Gregg earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Arizona State University. He and his wife Margaret live in Chandler, AZ with their seven children.

About Arizona Lottery’s Chris Rogers

Chris Rogers serves as Deputy Director, Marketing and Products at the Arizona Lottery where he champions a team of marketing and products professionals who have delivered nearly $1.6 billion in returns and over $7.5 billion in sales since 2016. Under Chris’s leadership, the lottery has launched several new products, including Fast Play, Quick Draw and the Arizona Lottery’s first $30 and $50 instant games. He is an active industry speaker and currently chairs a group of Marketing Directors at the Multi-State Lottery Association. Chris has more than 25 years of agency, corporate marketing and media sales experience working with national brands like publishing giant Gannett and Cold Stone Creamery, as well as leading southwest marketing agency Off Madison Ave. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree from Xavier University and enjoys writing music, some of which is featured in Arizona Lottery commercials and digital games. He currently resides in Tempe, AZ.

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Rebecca Shapiro and Jon Bleicher