QRS Music Inc. adds 10 international distributors, triples international dealers at German trade show

Business Wire, March 5, 1997

NAPLES, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 5, 1997--QRS Music Inc. ("QRS") announced from the "Musikmesse Frankfurt" trade show in Frankfurt, Germany (Feb. 26 - March 2), that 10 new international distributors have agreed to represent the company.

The new distributors are located in Australia, Belgium, China, France, Hong Kong, Portugal, Israel, Italy, Mexico and Singapore. Distributors are also located in Canada, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Taiwan.

Richard A. Dolan, QRS chairman and president, said that the company's products have growing international appeal as reflected in the large number of new distributors. This brings the total number of foreign distributors to 15. In addition, QRS ships to numerous other countries that currently do not have distributors.

QRS developed, manufactures and distributes the Pianomation(tm) Reproducing System. Currently, approximately 4,500 units have been sold to date. Dolan said that new owners of the Pianomation(tm) system initially order, through dealers or direct from QRS, approximately $350 of CDs. He added that they historically reorder approximately $200 of CDs every year. These amounts are QRS' gross receipts. The average retail price for a Pianomation CD is $25 (solo) to $55 (orchestration). QRS has an extensive catalog of CDs that are currently produced covering a wide range of musical formats, including country, jazz, classical, musicals, Disney film songs and many others. The company also manufactures and markets Story & Clark pianos and piano rolls. QRS has facilities in Buffalo, N.Y., Naples, Fla., and Seneca, Pa.

The QRS Pianomation system can turn any piano into a reproducing player piano. A patented hardware and software process can store and transport Musical Instrument Digital Interface ("MIDI") information as an analog signal. This process gives QRS the ability to store, and wirelessly transmit, MIDI performance data in an analog format from a controller (CD, video, cassette, DAT or Minidisc) to the receiver on the piano. This creates numerous possibilities. For example, most off-the-shelf audio equipment has a left and right channel available for use. State-of-the-art technology permits QRS to store the digital signal in an analog format on the left channel of the software which operates those players. This leaves the right channel available for live prerecorded audio music, even vocal recordings. Pianomation blends them together in perfect harmony and perfect synchronization. The Pianomation MIDI System is the first product of its kind to "marry" analog and digital technology.

In 1992, QRS acquired Classic Player Piano Inc., the last of the remaining manufacturers of player pianos, whose products are marketed under the Story & Clark name. The acquisition brought QRS back to its corporate roots. Its founder, Melville Clark, who founded QRS in 1900, was also one of the original owners of the company that became Story & Clark. Both player and acoustic pianos are manufactured under the Story & Clark name.

QRS' extensive catalog collection of traditional piano rolls for player pianos is the largest in the world. Those player piano rolls captured the key movement and timing of the artist. Composers and original artists who have recorded on QRS rolls include: George Gershwin, Liberace, Ferrante & Teicher, Peter Nero, George Shearing, Roger Williams and many others. These classics are being republished in a CD format.

Currently, QRS is on America Online (Keyword: QRS) and is planning to sell their products on line and be able to download Pianomation MIDI Music Library products to customers' computers. QRS plans to soon have a home page on the World Wide Web that would provide the same service. The Web site address will be http://www.QRSMusic.com .

CONTACT: Chuck Campbell, 708/798-9405