WPP makes investment in SFX Entertainment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Advertising group WPP PLC said Monday that it has invested in SFX Entertainment, an online media company focused on electronic dance music events.

WPP said that the investment will help it to reach young consumers.

Britain's WPP did not disclose how much money it invested in the New York company founded by entertainment entrepreneur Robert F.X. Sillerman, who once owned a big stake in CKx Inc., the former name of the company that owns "American Idol." CKx has changed its name to Core Media Group.

Sillerman serves as chairman and CEO of SFX Entertainment. The company's properties include Beatport, ID&T North America (Sensation and Mysteryland), Life In Color, Disco Donnie Presents and Miami Marketing Group, which houses LIV, Story and Arkadia.

Sillerman said in a statement that there is an audience of 16 to 34-year-old dance music consumers that are very hard to reach and that SFX helps brands find a way to reach them directly through events, festivals, online and mobile media.

WPP, which got its start in London, shifted to Dublin in 2008 but moved its headquarters back to London this year.