New York - Social networking site Gather.com said on Tuesday that it has partnered with Universal Music Group's Decca Label Group on a nationwide music contest that will award the winner a deal for a Decca-produced record. The "First Tracks: The Search for America's Best Musical Talent" content seeks online submissions from musicians of all genres, with 25 semifinalists to be selected by Gather.com members. In addition to the record deal, the winner's single will also be released on iTunes and Decca's website immediately after the contest.

Boston - Social networking service Gather.com announced on Tuesday that Kevin McClatchy, CEO of the Pittsburgh Pirates major league baseball team and a director at The McClatchy Co., the third largest newspaper company in the U.S., has acquired a minority stake in the company.

Boston - Gather.com, a provider of social networking and content sharing services, announced on Wednesday that it has received 1,500 manuscript submissions since the Jan. 11 launch of its Gather.com First Chapters Writing Competition. All manuscripts, which must be completed works of commercial fiction, are evaluated by the Gather.com community of readers, writers and aspiring authors. The contest is being produced in conjunction with publisher Simon & Schuster.

Boston - Online social network Gather.com announced on Monday that it has partnered with a number of firms that will provide "expert" information for various niche channels on its site. New partners include Harvard Health Publications, for the Gather.com Health channel, Publishers Weekly (Books), Columbia Records (Music) and McGraw-Hill Professional (Money).

New York - Touchstone, an imprint of publisher Simon & Schuster, has partnered with online social network Gather.com on a contest that will publish a book by a first-time author, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

Ann Arbor, Mich. - U.S. retailer Borders announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with online social network Gather.com, to create an online community to host author chats, interviews, and in-store event information. The Borders.Gather.com site will also post user-supplied content like articles, blogs and chats, and offer users who contribute to the site Gather Points that can be redeemed for Borders merchandise.