Musicmaker.com Announces Agreement With Microsoft To Create The Largest Signed Artist, Digital Download Site In Windows Media On The Web
Musicmaker.com (Nasdaq: HITS), the world's leading provider of custom CDs and licensed digitally downloadable music on the Internet, today announced a broad technology agreement with Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT). Under the agreement, musicmaker will make available, by year's end, over 100,000 signed artist, licensed songs for secure download using Microsoft Windows Media Format. As part of the agreement, musicmaker will also offer up to 250,000 30-second streaming samples of each song for preview using Windows Media. ""Musicmaker.com is committed to making it safe and easy for music lovers to securely download the CD-quality music they want, when and in the way they want it,"" said Bill Crowley, Vice President, Marketing and Sales, and one of musicmaker's founders. ""In our recent free download programs featuring music by Shania Twain, David Bowie and Pete Townshend, we have found that when offered a choice between downloading tracks in Windows Media and ""Secure MP3"" formats, our site visitors have overwhelmingly chosen Windows Media. We are excited to work with Microsoft to bring to reality the largest digital download site on the World Wide Web."" ""The agreement with Microsoft is a watershed event for us at musicmaker.com,"" said Chairman and Co-CEO Robert Bernardi, ""Microsoft's recognition of us as the leader in signed artist, licensed music digital downloading enhances our position in the marketplace."" Microsoft will also provide musicmaker.com preferred positioning on WindowsMedia.com for streamed previews. Musicmaker.com will include streamed previews of music in Windows Media Format as part of its Kiosk program that they will be deploying in twenty cities of the United States, in December. Consumers for the first time will be able to visit a music retailer and acquire music via a digital download directly into their portable device or their portable media. ""To have such a large catalog like musicmaker in Windows Media Format will offer a tremendous choice for consumers,"" said Will Poole, general manager, Streaming Media Division, Microsoft Corp. ""Now musicmaker customers can enjoy the benefits of secure CD-quality Windows Media music in half the size of MP3 files."" Artists currently featured for download on musicmaker.com include Sevendust, Nine Inch Nails, XTC, Biohazard, Type O Negative, Fear Factory, The Beach Boys, Miles Davis, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, Frank Zappa, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Starship, KC & The Sunshine Band, Eilleen ""Shania"" Twain, Blues Brothers and others. About Musicmaker.com Musicmaker.com, headquartered in Reston, Virginia, is the largest CD service and licensed digital download music site on the Internet. Founded by executives, including Robert Bernardi, Co-Founder of PictureTel and TranSwitch, Raju Puthukarai, former President of RCA/BMG Music and Video Club and President of Warner Music Media and Irwin H. Steinberg, former Chairman and CEO of PolyGram Records, USA, musicmaker.com offers music lovers the opportunity to build their own CDs by selecting and organizing songs from a library of 200,000 tracks from over 100 labels in a variety of music genres. Powerful search engines help find selections by genre, artist, title and label and Windows Media Audio allows tracks to be sampled before selection. CDs include up to 20 tracks or 70 minutes of music and can be personalized with unique labels as well as imprints on the jewel boxes. CDs range from $9.95 - $24.95 depending on the number of tracks and orders are taken through secure credit card link and are shipped within one business day. Musicmaker.com also offers about 100,000 licensed songs in three secure digital downloading formats: Liquid Audio, Microsoft Windows Media 4.0 and secure MP3. Each digitally downloaded track is available at $1.00 per song. Musicmaker.com has exclusive licensing agreements with EMI Music, Zomba, TVT, Rounder, Roadrunner and Platinum Entertainment, among others. Musicmaker.com also has marketing agreements with Columbia House (the world's largest music club, owned by Sony and Time Warner), AOL, Listen.com, Audio Book Club, Transworld Entertainment, the Musicland Group, Wherehouse Music, Platinum Entertainment, and Woodstock.com. Any forward-looking statements contained in this release involve a number of uncertainties, risks and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements to materially differ. Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially include, among others, those set forth in the Company's Registration Statement filed on Form S-1 dated as of July 7, 1999 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Source: Musicmaker.com Web Site: http://www.musicmaker.com