MADISON, Wis. and NEW YORK, May 24, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Musicnotes.com today announced an exclusive agreement with America Online, the world's leading interactive services company, which will greatly expand the reach of the emerging digital music publisher. The agreement enables AOL Music to integrate Musicnote's ever-growing array of musical compositions into AOL's leading range of music offerings. Through this integration, AOL Music will be able to offer millions of AOL members the opportunity to receive, print and play sheet music and lyrics.
"For almost a century, after having been relegated to the 'tip of the tail of the dog' that is the music business," said Kathleen Marsh, CEO of Musicnotes, "sheet music is once again positioned to create significant income for music publishers and artists throughout the world via our best of breed website. We are thrilled to have been chosen as AOL's exclusive partner. Our songs and lyrics will be a great complement to AOL Music's extensive offerings."
Calling it a "true revolution in sheet music distribution," Marsh pointed out "AOL's members around the world will now be able to acquire their favorite sheet music inexpensively, instantly, and with a great deal of satisfaction on a 24/7 basis. The days of sheet music being out of print, unavailable, or available only in expensive folio editions not designed for one's instrument of choice are ending."
"Musicnotes is the clear leader in this unique segment of the music business, and we are pleased to join with them to take it to the next level and create new opportunities for online music fans," stated Kevin Conroy, SVP and General Manager of AOL Music. "For the millions of music fans who visit AOL Music regularly, this relationship will mean the ability to find music lyrics conveniently, legitimately and affordably."
Musicnotes has already been experiencing success in terms of traffic and order activity, gaining momentum on a word-of-mouth basis. "We are experiencing meaningful traffic and sales conversion rates," said Musicnotes' Vice Chairman and CFO Tim Reiland. "Importantly, consumers are willing to pay for our content, something the audio side of the music business has struggled with," stated Reiland.
"We look forward to what we hope to be a long-term relationship with AOL, " stated Marsh. "This agreement should also help us attract additional digital content from music publishers. After all, what publishers and artists wouldn't want to be on AOL Music, which is the most heavily-trafficked music portal?" she concluded.
About Musicnotes, Inc:
Musicnotes, Inc. has an impressive catalog of 14,000 digital sheet music titles that has been built on the strength of content agreements with Warner Bros. Publications, BMG, Famous Music, and several other music publishers. They also carry a complete catalog of over 220,000 mail-order items in their online catalog. The Musicnotes.com multi-genre catalog includes everything from Elton John and Vanessa Carlton to George Gershwin and Beethoven.
On the web: http://www.musicnotes.com
About AOL Music:
AOL Music, a division of America Online, Inc., reaches the largest audience of online music fans in the world through a rich array of programming, products and services that make it easy to discover, experience, listen to and buy music on the Web. AOL Music's leading offerings include the number one Internet music destination, AOL's Music Channel; premiere online radio products, Radio@AOL and Spinner; and the most popular audio jukebox player, Winamp. AOL Music also provides music programming, products and services throughout the AOL Service, AOL High Speed Broadband Services, and AOL's family of Web brands, including Netscape, CompuServe, AIM and ICQ. America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:AOL). Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.
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