Cherry Lane Inks Publishing Deal with Black Eyed Peas

Business Wire, July 23, 2003

Entertainment Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 2003

Cherry Lane Music Publishing has announced a worldwide co-publishing deal with R&B/Hip-Hop sensation, The Black Eyed Peas. The deal covers the Peas' just released album, Elephunk on A&M Records. One of the most sought after contemporary groups, the Peas had several major publishers coveting the rights for this album.

"This year, we've been aggressively diversifying our client roster and signing the Black Eyed Peas fits perfectly into our business model," says Cherry Lane President, Aida Gurwicz, "We're looking forward to exploiting the many opportunities for the band's increased exposure that this record promises."

"Adding The Black Eyed Peas to our rapidly growing roster couldn't be more exciting for us," adds Al Smith, VP/Creative Services.

The Black Eyed Peas' current single, "Where Is The Love" featuring Justin Timberlake, continues to climb the charts, hitting #14 on this week's Billboard Hot 100. The single is steadily being released overseas and has already proven to be well received. The rising success of this hit single and the new record have also earned the Black Eyed Peas an opening slot on this summer's Justified and Stripped tour, headlining Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera. This high-energy tour kicked off on May 30th in Carlsbad, Ca and wraps up on August 31st in Seattle. In addition, the Black Eyed Peas appeared on the debut broadcast of the WB's "Pepsi Smash" to wild acclaim.

Manager David Sonenberg, notes, "The Peas have worked very hard over the years to get where they are today and we're optimistic about the future with Cherry Lane as their publisher."

Cherry Lane, with its extensive catalogue of copyrights and library of masters spanning virtually all genres of music, is known for its expertise in copyright exploitation and administration. The Cherry Lane catalogue includes such great standard songs as "Just the Two of Us", "Take Me Home Country Roads", "Come Fly With Me", "Day-O" and "All Shook Up", as well as more recent Billboard chart-toppers including "A Little Less Conversation" and the DreamWorks' singles "The Middle" and "Hanging By a Moment". Cherry Lane is also the music publisher for World Wrestling Entertainment, whose series of albums have consistently ranked near the top of the Billboard charts.

Cherry Lane's administration and co-publishing relationships with film and television production companies include DreamWorks SKG, NASCAR, Mel Gibson's Icon Productions, NFL Films, Edward R. Pressman Film Corporation, World Wrestling Entertainment, John Carpenter Productions, Telemundo, Professional Bull Riders, Roger Corman's Concorde-New Horizons Films, John Malkovich's Mr. Mudd, 4Kids Productions, American Film Marketing Association (AFMA), The Konigsberg-Smith Company, Avnet Kerner, Hearst Entertainment, Regent Entertainment and Leonard Hill Films. Film and television credits include the DreamWorks films The Road To Perdition, Shrek and American Beauty; 4Kids Productions Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Ninja Turtles, Ultraman, Ultimate Muscle, Kirby and Fighting Foodons series, WWE's SmackDown!, as well as dozens of made for television movies, and documentary programs aired on A&E, History Channel and Discovery Channel.