Spinner.com, the First and Largest Multi-Channel Internet Music Broadcaster, Ready to Comply With Digital Millennium Copyright Legislation, Expected to be Signed Into Law This Week

Business Wire, Oct 22, 1998

BURLINGAME, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 22, 1998--

Supports the Intellectual Property Rights of Songwriters,

Performers and the Music Industry;

Well Positioned to Comply with

Copyright Legislation

Spinner.com, the leader in the Internet music broadcast category with more than 38 million impressions per month, announced that it is prepared to comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

President Bill Clinton is expected to sign the bill into law this week. Spinner.com, the online music pioneer with close to three years and 2.5 million listeners under its belt, is well positioned for the legislation thanks to its technological advantage, experience and its solid relationships within the recording industry.

"There's a lot of confusion in the online music space about who plays by the rules and who doesn't," said Josh Felser, president of Spinner.com. "Since day one, as the first multi-channel Internet music broadcaster to be licensed by ASCAP and BMI, Spinner.com has respected the intellectual property of artists, songwriters and record labels," he said. "We have always been committed to working hand in hand with the recording industry. This legislation provides us with the opportunity to work even more closely with record companies, further strengthening our ties and solidifying Spinner.com's position as the leader in the Internet music category," he added. "We hope this proposed law will continue to spur cooperation with the recording industry, and lead to the establishment of reasonable license fees that will promote the continued growth of Spinner.com and other services which are working, within the bounds of the law, to provide innovative digital audio services on the Internet."

Spinner.com has strong relationships with more than 200 key record companies, including independent and major labels, through strategic partnerships and promotions supported by Spinner.com's unique ActiveAudio rich media offerings, and with organizations such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and the RIAA. It recently conducted a promotion for Warner Bros. Records, and has plans for several more major-label sponsored promotions.

The impending Digital Millennium Copyright Act creates new rights and obligations with respect to the use of copyrighted materials in the digital environment, including the use of sound recordings by online music services. The new law would require many online music broadcasters, among others, to pay licensing fees to recording companies for public performances of sound recordings resulting from certain kinds of digital transmissions.

Spinner.com, as the most visited streaming music site, is prepared for the legislation, which has the potential to severely hamper emerging services in this growing industry. Spinner.com is prepared, thanks to its proprietary technology and a flexible content management system that can accommodate industry changes. In addition, Spinner.com's established relationships within the recording industry, its loyal audience base, and its flexible business strategy will also allow it to leverage the legislation.

Spinner.com's momentum, since the beginning of 1998, continues to build with a 700% increase in traffic and registered users. Recently, Spinner.com, which broadcasts more than 1.5 million songs per day on more than 100 unique channels, was named to a number of high-profile rankings, including: Top 20 Most Popular Web Site (www.100hot.com), Top 10 Most Popular Multimedia and Design Pick on c|net in September 1998 with more than 15,000 downloads per week (www.download.com), What's Cool pick (www.netscape.com), Top 10 Music Site on Macromedia's Shockrave (www.shockrave.com), and the "most promoted music radio site" on Real Networks' site (www.real.com). In relation to Spinner.com's 38 million monthly impressions, its nearest competitor Imagine Radio serves 525,000 impressions per month, while Net Radio serves 17 million impressions.(1)

About Spinner.com

Spinner.com is the first and largest multi-channel Internet music service, delivering more than 130,000 digitized songs in more than 100 highly specialized music channels. Covering an unprecedented depth and breadth of music programming -- with channels such as 90's Rock, Bluegrass, British Invasion, Chicago Blues, Top Pop, Great Guitar, Jungle and Latin -- Spinner.com reaches more than 2 million listeners worldwide, broadcasting more than one million songs per day. Based in Silicon Valley, Spinner.com couples the power of the Internet with advanced digital audio technology to raise entertainment to a new octave. The Spinner.com music players -- the Web-based Spinner and the stand-alone Internet application Spinner Plus -- display song information as music is played, while providing dynamic links that enable online purchasing and real-time listener feedback. The strength of these features has fostered partnerships with industry leaders including RealNetworks, Amazon.com, @Home Network, GameSpot, LAUNCH Media, and The Ultimate Band List (UBL), as well as more than 200 record labels. Visit Spinner.com at www.spinner.com