PHOENIX, Nov. 18, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- SunnComm International, Inc. (Pink Sheets:SCMI) announced today that it has signed an agreement with Phoenix based Viastar Records, a division of Viastar Media Corporation (OTCBB:VISHE), for use of its MediaMax(tm) suite of copy management and enhancement technologies for Grammy Award winning recording artist Peter Cetera's "You Just Gotta Love Christmas". Cetera's holiday release will be the first commercial CD to benefit from the robust features available through SunnComm's newest technology, MediaMax Version 5.
As a member of the legendary group Chicago, Peter Cetera made his mark on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the worldwide No. 1 single "If You Leave Me Now" and "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" as well as chart-toppers "You're The Inspiration," "Feeling Stronger Everyday" and "Baby What A Big Surprise." He immediately attained No. 1 status as a solo artist with "Glory of Love" and "Next Time I Fall," a duet with then up and coming singer/songwriter Amy Grant.
"You Just Gotta Love Christmas" is the first holiday album in Cetera's multifaceted recording career. Collaborating with both family and friends, Cetera created a deeply personal record that captures the timeless spirit of Christmas and touches on many of the emotions of the season: love thoughtfulness, memories, anticipation, surprise and even loneliness. Cetera refers to the album as "the ultimate Christmas gift for my daughters . . . one they can share with their families for years to come." The enhanced holiday CD features nine Christmas classics and three beautiful originals co-written by Cetera including "You Just Gotta Love Christmas," "Alone for the Holidays" and "Something Santa Claus Left Behind," which he will be performing at this year's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
"What really impressed us about the MediaMax suite was the ability to customize the use of bonus features such as music videos, picture gallery, artist bio, song sharing ability and artist web-links," says John Bergen, Head of Sales and Marketing for Viastar Records Group. "The goal is to create a full music experience that consumers appreciate, not only in terms of entertainment but also for the CD's added value."
"We are very excited to be working with Viastar Records and Peter Cetera," said Peter Jacobs president of SunnComm and longtime Cetera fan. "It is a humbling experience when a world class, award-winning artist such as Mr. Cetera recognizes the extraordinary value of adding MediaMax to a music fan's CD listening experience."
Viastar Records, located in Phoenix, Arizona, manages a diverse roster of recording artists that include legendary singer/songwriter Peter Cetera, Robbie Nevil, Canadian rock group Hadley and international star Peter Murphy, former lead singer of the trend setting UK group Bauhaus.
SunnComm's MediaMax suite of products delivers security for digital CD audio along with an enhanced consumer experience that provides additional bonus content and value-added features available in a user-friendly multi-media session that is mastered directly on the audio CD and accessible using a personal computer. Bonus features include on-board press kits, artist-related promotions, videos, song lyrics, artist bio page, photo gallery, web links and tune-sharing capability through SunnComm's MusicMail(tm) functionality. MusicMail or TuneShare is an interface for the legal authorized sharing of selected song tracks with friends & family for a pre-determined number of days or plays. CD buyers can share music legitimately without illegal file sharing networks and without tying up their email system with huge files. This is a powerful word-of-mouth marketing tool for the record labels. Metrics associated with forwarded MusicMail files are available to SunnComm's record label customers on a 24/7/365 basis.
ABOUT VIASTAR
Viastar Media Corporation (OTCBB:VISHE) is engaged in the development, production and distribution of entertainment-related media for film, television, music and publishing interests. The Company's portfolio currently includes ownership of Viastar Distribution Group, A.V.O. Studios, Moving Pictures International, Viastar Records, Quadra Records, Light of the Spirit Records, Viastar Classical, Viastar Artist Management group and Masterdisk Corporation.
ABOUT SUNNCOMM
SunnComm International Inc. (Pink Sheets:SCMI) copy management and protection technology was first commercially released by Nashville's Music City records in 2001. The album, "Charley Pride -- A Tribute to Jim Reeves," became the first commercial dual-session, copy-managed CD in America. SunnComm also became the first company to commercially release a content-protected audio CD utilizing an early version of the Windows Media Data Session Toolkit. (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2003/jan03/01-20SessionToolkitPR.asp) (Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste it into your Internet browser's URL address field. You may also need to remove an extra space in the URL if one exists.)
In just four years, SunnComm has become the leader in digital content enhancement and security technology for audio compact disc media with its MediaMax suite of products. MediaMax has been successfully implemented on some of today's best selling music including Velvet Revolver, which reached the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart in addition to other gold and platinum best-selling releases. MediaMax has been used by 25 record labels on more than 60 commercial releases generating over 6,000,000 copy managed CDs.
SunnComm's MediaMax suite of digital content enhancement technologies are created by integrating the Company's own proprietary technology with the Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) Windows Media 9 Series media player, but still operates on both Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) and Microsoft Windows-based systems. For more detailed information about the company, its vision or philosophy, personnel, partners, and customers, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.sunncomm.com, or call the Company directly at (602) 267-7500. For additional information or investor relations please contact:
Company contact: Investor contact: Peter H. Jacobs Investor Communications Consulting 602-267-7500 602-231-0681 peter@sunncomm.com SCMI@investorcc.com
MediaMax Digital Content Cloaking Technology, DC2, PromoPlay, TuneShare, MusicMail, Secure-Burn and SunnComm are registered and/or trademarks of SunnComm International, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
NOTES ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements contained in this release, which are not historical facts, may be considered "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and the current economic environment.
We caution the reader that such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Unknown risk, uncertainties as well as other uncontrollable or unknown factors could cause actual results to materially differ from the results, performance or expectations expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.