InterVideo Unveils WinRip Studio, Giving Musicians Powerful New Artistic and Promotional Tools

Business Wire, May 15, 2001

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 2001

As MP3.com Releases Over 800,000 Songs Enhanced with WinRip(TM)

IDI Technology, Web Site's Musicians Can Now Inject

Lyrics & Web Links Into Their Offerings

InterVideo, Inc., developer of the world's leading DVD software player, WinDVD(TM), today announced the availability of WinRip Studio(TM), a revolutionary software program that allows artists to enhance their music files with song lyrics, photos, concert information, merchandise offers, biographies and more.

Currently available exclusively to MP3.com artists, WinRip Studio lets musicians add creative and promotional value to their music, offering fans a richer entertainment experience than ever before.

WinRip Studio utilizes InterVideo's patent-pending Data Injection technology (IDI) to embed text and Web links in MP3 files. Enhancements are actually interlaced into the music file during creation. Artists can inject existing MP3 files or create new files from .wav files or from CDs. Over 800,000 songs on MP3.com have been injected with synchronized text and links to artists' Web pages and are now available as WinRip Enhanced Downloads. With the advent of WinRip Studio, the site's 150,000 artists now have the opportunity to offer their own audio/visual experiences with their MP3 music.

"I've already gotten a tremendous amount of fan mail from those who enjoyed listening AND watching my enhanced MP3 file," said Amira Swiss, one of the MP3.com artists chosen to participate in a beta test of the technology. "Because I (chose) one of my instrumental numbers (for injection), I simply displayed my bio while flashing photos to the music."

"When I first heard about WinRip Studio I immediately thought it would be great to have snapshots from my latest music video running in time with my MP3 files," said John Jones, MP3.com recording artist and Grammy(R)-winning producer, who also has used WinRip Studio. "I'm looking forward to adding lyrics and Web links to all my MP3 songs."

Artists Offered 30-Day Free Trial

Effective immediately, registered MP3.com artists can download a full-function, 30-day free trial copy of WinRip Studio for evaluation. The purchase price of WinRip Studio is $199; however, for a limited time the software is available to MP3.com registered artists at a promotional price of $99. A special page, accessible in the Artist Admin area on the MP3.com Web site, has been set up for MP3.com artists to download the WinRip Studio software.

"WinRip Studio is a breakthrough for recording artists because it allows them to create MP3 files with more artistic and commercial value than ever before," said Tom White, senior director of audio marketing for InterVideo. "With IDI technology, MP3 files give artists a whole new avenue for creative expression, and the opportunity to communicate with their fans via text and Web links. All IDI-enhanced files are playable as standard MP3 files on other players, and remain just as small and compact as non-enhanced files."

MP3.com is supporting the release of WinRip Studio with promotional messages and download links throughout the MP3.com artist site, as well as a number of promotional announcements that will be sent to the entire MP3.com artist community.

Easy Fan Access to Enhanced MP3 Music

To view Enhanced MP3 files, all consumers need is InterVideo's WinRip player. Released in March of this year, the WinRip player is available as a free download from MP3.com or from InterVideo's Web site, www.intervideo.com.

Via a joint promotion between InterVideo and MP3.com, fans are also able to enjoy enhanced versions of virtually every song available for download on MP3.com site. To view Enhanced MP3s, users simply click on the "WinRip Enhanced Download" link found on the majority of artist's music pages.

WinRip is a full-featured digital music player and jukebox, offering user-defined file management, smart search capability (artist, genre, etc.), and DSP effects such as echo, surround, karaoke and tone control. WinRip also runs in a "compact" mode that lets users change the look and feel of the product with a number of downloadable "skins", and supports `plug-in' applications that enhance the playback environment with colorful graphics that respond to music tempo and dynamics. The product is compatible with all Windows platforms including Windows 95, 98, 98SE, 2000, and Millenium Edition.

The downloadable version of WinRip includes a 30-day trial of premium features available as an upgrade for $19.95, including MP3 file encoding, the Gracenote CDDB2 disc recognition service, and the ability to inject text or lyrics into the user's own MP3 files.

WinRip is part of InterVideo's WinCinema(TM) suite of advanced digital video and audio software products. Other WinCinema components include: WinDVD; WinDVR(TM), a PC-based personal video recorder; WinDTV/DVB, high- and standard-definition digital television decoders; WinCoder(TM), the suite's MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 software encoder; WinProducer(TM), InterVideo's MPEG-1 and DV video editing solution; and MyDVD for CD(TM), a DVD authoring component for CD recordable devices.