BLACKPINK KICKS OFF NEW YOUTUBE ORIGINALS MUSIC SHOW "RELEASED" LAUNCHING OCTOBER 1 AT 11:45 PM ET

WEEKLY SERIES FROM EXECUTIVE VAN TOFFLER AND DEN OF THIEVES TO FEATURE THE WORLD'S BIGGEST ARTISTS

NEW YORK, NY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 - YouTube today announced "RELEASED," a new weekly music series set to premiere on October 1 at 11:45 pm ET, kicking off with world-renowned, YouTube record-breaking music group, BLACKPINK, on BLACKPINK's YouTube Channel just minutes before the release of their highly-anticipated debut studio album. From Gunpowder & Sky CEO, Van Toffler (TRL, MTV VMAs, Unplugged), and Den of Thieves (MTV VMAs, Netflix's Taylor Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour), "RELEASED" will premiere on Thursdays in the moments just before artists release new music at midnight ET. The 16-episode series will feature the world's biggest artists and highlight music moments from the week, all leading up to one exclusive video premiere that artists and fans experience together only on YouTube, the largest platform and destination for music consumption.

"Van Toffler is the visionary behind some of music's most memorable moments and the perfect partner to bring this project to life," said Susanne Daniels, Global Head of Original Content for YouTube. "'RELEASED' brings a dream team together for a topical weekly series that celebrates the inventive way music is consumed on YouTube while revitalizing a tried-and-true format with proven success."

"Thursday nights on YouTube are going to be mic drop moments," said Lyor Cohen, Global Head of Music for YouTube. "YouTube Music is all about connecting artists and fans and this Original series brings the world's biggest artists and their newest videos and projects straight to the fans right before they're released. We feel lucky to kick off this series with BLACKPINK, arguably the biggest artist in the world."

"As an avid music fan, YouTube is hands down the best idea and most immersive playground of the 21st Century," said Van Toffler, Gunpowder & Sky CEO. "To be able to enlist its fanbase, platform and technology to highlight the best and breakthrough talent in music is a wish fulfilled. On top of that, I get to produce the show with my beloved creative colleagues Susanne and Lyor, plus the Den of Thieves team - let the mayhem begin!"

"We know first-hand the importance of the artist-to-fan connection, and we can't think of a better destination to serve that connection than YouTube. We are excited to be joining with these incredible partners to give unprecedented access to some of the biggest artists in the world and celebrate their work each week," said Den of Thieves co-founders Jesse Ignjatovic and Evan Prager.

Hosted by Washington D.C. DJ, Little Bacon Bear, "RELEASED" will be YouTube's prime destination for everything happening in music each week with episodes including unfiltered access to the featured chart-topping artist with exclusive performances and announcements. Segments will also highlight the week's most buzzed about music moments for fans to discover on YouTube as the countdown to midnight ET music video premieres approach.

See first trailer for "RELEASED" here.

RELEASED will debut this week featuring BLACKPINK on the eve of their debut studio album release. BLACKPINK continuously raises the bar and this summer was no different. Premiered in June, their single "How You Like That" took the #1 spot as 'YouTube's Global Top Song of Summer' and won 'Song Of The Summer' at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards. Most recently, their single "Ice Cream" with Selena Gomez debuted at #1 on YouTube's Global Music Videos Chart and #13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

BLACKPINK shared, "We are honored and happy to be the first on YouTube's new original content "RELEASED". We hope that it will be a great opportunity to celebrate our first full album 'THE ALBUM' with many global music fans."

"RELEASED" joins a slate of music-focused YouTube Originals including recent hits like "Justin Bieber: Seasons," "Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert," "TWICE: Seize the Light," "Coldplay: Everyday Life - Live in Jordan," and forthcoming projects including a four-part docuseries with superstar Demi Lovato coming next year.

The series is produced by Den of Thieves and executive produced by Van Toffler, Barry Barclay and Matt Elias for Gunpowder & Sky.

Susanne Daniels is Global Head of Original Content for YouTube. Alex Piper, Head of Unscripted, and Margaret Burris, Development Lead, will oversee the series for YouTube Originals. Lyor Cohen is Global Head of YouTube Music.

About YouTube Originals:

YouTube Originals are award-winning, creative and engaging scripted and unscripted series and films across music, personalities and learning for fans all over the world. Spotlighting both YouTube creators alongside Hollywood's biggest stars, YouTube Originals provide an experience that only YouTube can offer. By tapping into the platform's growing global community, fan engagement product capabilities, and innovative content mixed with pioneering live-streamed specials, there is truly something for everybody. Fans experience YouTube Original content through ad-supported YouTube as well as YouTube Premium, a subscription service that offers access to YouTube Original series and movies, a streaming music platform, and an uninterrupted, ad-free experience across all of YouTube. YouTube Originals are available in nearly 80 countries worldwide.

About BLACKPINK:

Since bursting onto the scene in 2016, BLACKPINK have redefined the possibilities of K-pop, transcending all categorization and ascending to global stardom. With their unstoppably catchy single "DDU-DU DDU-DU", the South Korean quartet broke the record for highest-charting Billboard Hot 100 debut by an all-female K-pop act, while its head-turning video surpassed 10 million views in just six hours and racked up 36.2 million views in one day.

Discovered by YG Entertainment, BLACKPINK is comprised of JISOO, JENNIE, ROSÉ and LISA: four immensely charismatic vocalists, dancers, and burgeoning fashion icons. Released in 2016, their debut "SQUARE ONE" quickly proved their crossover power; in 2018, "SQUARE UP" climbed to #40 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Billboard World Albums chart. Several months after "SQUARE UP" hit the charts, YG Entertainment and Interscope Records announced a global partnership for BLACKPINK, paving the way for the group's international breakthrough. With their EP Kill This Love arriving in April 2019, BLACKPINK further boosted their popularity by successfully completing a world tour and becoming the first K-pop girl group to perform at Coachella, the largest music festival in the U.S.

About Gunpowder & Sky:

Gunpowder & Sky is an independent entertainment studio that creates and distributes feature films, series, short form content, podcasts and channels for the streaming generation. Since its inception in 2016, Gunpowder & Sky has released more than 30 feature films and series, original narrative podcast, and more than 750 short films in theatres, on TVOD and on leading platforms such as HBO, Netflix, MTV, Hulu, Sky, Showtime, Spotify, DirecTV, Amazon, Facebook, YouTube, Quibi, Audible and Discovery. Notable films and series include Her Smell, Everybody's Everything, Prospect, Sea Fever, The Little Hours, Cam, Hearts Beat Loud, Lords of Chaos, Tragedy Girls, Betting on Zero, Summer of 84, Villains, Survive, 50 States of Fright and Drawn & Recorded. With a collective audience of more than 65M monthly unique viewers, Gunpowder & Sky's current owned and operated brands include DUST, the number one free sci-fi channel; ALTER, a leading horror brand, and CUT, an unscripted & comedy brand that is home to the successful formats "Truth or Drink" and "Grandmas Smoking Weed". DUST, ALTER and CUT are presently distributed on platforms such as Apple, Amazon, Comcast, Sling, Roku, Samsung, Vizio TV, Xfinity Flex, YouTube, Facebook, AT&T, DirecTV, Sinclair, Samsung TV Plus and Instagram. With offices in Los Angeles and New York, Gunpowder & Sky was founded by Van Toffler and Floris Bauer, in partnership with The Chernin Group and AT&T.

About Den of Thieves:

Den of Thieves (DoT) is a television live event, scripted and non-scripted production company founded in 2007 by Jesse Ignjatovic and Evan Prager. Since its inception, DoT has become one of the most highly regarded and sought-after production companies in the industry. DoT is the production company responsible for producing the MTV Video Music Awards for the past 13 consecutive years, while also holding Executive Producer credits for Netflix's "Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour" concert special, E! Network's People's Choice Awards and "Live from the Red Carpet" awards seasons specials, Quibi's "The Rachel Hollis Show," MTV's virtual "Promathon" event, YouTube Originals #MoveWithMe global dance event, the MTV Movie Awards, the iHeartRadio Music Awards for Turner Broadcasting, ABC's "The Gong Show" and Ken Jeong's Netflix comedy special "You Complete Me, Ho," to name a few. Aside from spearheading some of the world's leading premier event shows and specials, DoT is the name behind the production of comedy specials and documentaries for Netflix, Comedy Central, and Apple among others. Beyond that, DoT also produced the multi-network broadcast of Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief in September 2017, in addition to the digital stream of the historic March for Our Lives rally in March 2018.