EMI Christian Music Group Conducts WOW Promotion With Musicmaker.com; Free New Artist/Music CD On-line Offer For WOW Hits 2001 Customers

Business Wire, Oct 16, 2000

Entertainment Editors

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Oct. 16th, 2000

EMI Christian Music Group announced today that it and its collaborators in the multi-platinum selling WOW compilation series, Word Entertainment and Provident Music Group, have entered into an agreement with Internet music store Musicmaker.com for a CD giveaway promotion of the latest in the WOW series, WOW Hits 2001.

WOW is an album series created and marketed by EMI Christian Music Group, Word Entertainment and Provident Music Group, three industry leaders in Christian music. The multi-platinum-selling brand, introduced in 1995, is the genre's top-selling series of all time and has become a key representative of the Christian music industry to mainstream retail. Lifetime sales for the entire series are approaching 8 million.

Powered by Musicmaker.com, with the purchase of WOW Hits 2001, customers will be offered a free five-song custom CD of key new artists and music. Consumers can log-on to WOW Hits' official website, www.wow2001.com , sample new music and choose from 20 songs listed. The free customized CD will be shipped to the customer for a $3.99 shipping/handling charge.

"This online partnership is designed to introduce hundreds of thousands of Christian music fans to the tremendous crop of new artists and music our industry has launched over the last year," said Bill Hearn, President and CEO of EMI Christian Music Group. "We have high expectations based on Musicmaker's success with similar promotions in the past."

Nashville, Tennessee-based EMI Christian Music Group, a member of EMI Recorded Music, is the world's largest Christian music company, operating the Sparrow, EMI Gospel and Forefront labels in addition to EMI Christian Music Publishing and Chordant Distribution Group.