Net4Music Launches Online Portal for Musicians, Offering the Largest Collection of Digitized, Downloadable Sheet Music

Business Wire, Dec 1, 1999

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 1, 1999--

Net4Music (www.net4music.com) today announced the launch of a comprehensive portal for musicians. The company's first product will be digitized downloadable sheet music and MIDI files, offering immediate and secure access to over 40,000 titles initially, growing at a rate of 10,000 per month. The site will also feature content written by musicians and educational components for musicians of all levels.

"The global market for sheet music and music books is $1 billion a year, yet it faces numerous challenges that have hampered its growth, including limited selection of titles and widespread piracy," explained Francois Duliege, CEO of Net4Music. "Our solution is advantageous to all members of the music community and provides benefits that were previously impossible." -0-

     Net4Music offers:

--   Publishers the ability to quickly digitize vast amounts of sheet
     music from multiple sources into a standard PDF format that the
     publisher will then own. Net4Music's state-of-the-art copyright
     protection technology virtually eliminates piracy and
     unauthorized distribution of product. Also, distributing sheet
     music over the Internet is the most efficient distribution
     channel available, and publishers can set up branded online
     storefronts through Net4Music to sell directly to consumers.

--   Musicians immediate access to tens of thousands of titles from a
     variety of music genres; the ability to buy one score instead of
     the entire songbook and listen to the selection before purchasing
     it; the capability to download sheet music in a variety of keys
     at no additional cost; and inclusion in a worldwide community of
     musicians.

--   Retailers a way to eliminate space-consuming inventories of
     printed sheet music, satisfying customer needs for obscure or
     out-of-print works immediately, as well as the ability to offer
     sheet music from a wide variety of genres.

--   Orchestras and Educational Organizations the ability to purchase
     custom combinations of any instrumentation and scaleable
     discounts for volume ordering as well as access to current pop
     sheet music.

Net4Music was founded in 1995 in France as Interactives Musiques Companie by Claude Poletti, the director of a number of music academies and chamber music festivals and a former president of the Association of Music Academies in France. Earlier this year, the name of the company was changed to Net4Music to better reflect the company's future using the Internet. Net4Music expanded its operations to include the U.S. and added key members of its management team, whose collective resume includes BMI Music, Showtime Networks, Nat Systems and GeoCities.

"Sheet music is a truly global product, since everyone in the world reads it the same way," added Duliege. "Because of the global nature of sheet music and our company, we will be launching the site with content in five different languages and the ability to purchase in 22 currencies."

The content on Net4Music will be written by musicians, for musicians and will include chats and educational methods. Net4Music has also created the Net4Musicians Directory, listing musicians, composers, teachers, manufacturers and retailers, identified by instrument, genre, and geography to help connect the global musical community.

"The reception we have received from the music community so far has been overwhelmingly positive," Duliege concluded. "We plan to finalize many significant partnerships in the coming months."

About Net4Music

Net4Music is a company for musicians, by musicians. Using Internet technology, Net4Music has revolutionized the distribution of sheet music by licensing the digital distribution rights to the world's largest catalog of titles from all music genres and offering secure downloads of this sheet music. Net4Music's innovative services empower the music end user by providing musicians and composers with immediate access to one of the largest collections of musical scores along with unparalleled copyright protection for music publishing. Through Net4Music's website, musicians can reference and download sheet music for faster, easier and safer distribution than was previously possible. With its cutting-edge services and growing number of strategic partnerships, Net4Music is fast becoming the premier online portal for musicians.