British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) Taps Muze UK Ltd. To Provide Music Content For Its Web Site

Market Wire, 20050229

Muze UK, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Muze Inc., the leading source of entertainment product information for music, books, video and games, announced today it will provide its music content to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The BBC will incorporate several Muze music content products into its BBCi Web site (bbc.co.uk), the UK's number one digital destination. Those products include Muze for Music-UK content, MuzeTunes-UK streaming audio sample service, Muze Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Grove Online Classical Encyclopedia.

Muze for Music-UK data contains the relevant track, cover art and label information for UK releases and for global albums released in the UK. Muze for Music-UK connects music fans with detailed information for over 280,000 pop and jazz titles and classical works, including album information, discographies, review excerpts, album notes and commentary, cover art and more. Coupled with the Encyclopedia of Popular Music (EPM), which includes in-depth artist biographies, Muze for Music-UK enhances the user experience, giving BBCi users the most comprehensive information about the music and artists that interest them. The BBC will also include the Grove Online Classical Encyclopedia content on its site. Universally acknowledged as the definitive authority on all aspects of classical music, the Grove data set contains over 10,000 influential classical music entries, including composer, performer, musician, and conductor biographies along with detailed descriptions of essential works and 13 searchable reference categories.

The BBC will also integrate MuzeTunes-UK into its site. MuzeTunes-UK is a new streaming audio service recently launched in the UK and is the first streaming audio service to target the UK music market. With MuzeTunes-UK, BBCi users can sample new music directly from the BBC Web site. Available in Windows Media Audio 7, MuzeTunes-UK offers 30-second audio clips available by street date for new releases expected to chart. The clips, which are updated weekly, are streamed through Akamai Technologies, the industry leader in online streaming.

"At the BBC we are committed to providing our loyal users with relevant, accurate and up-to-date information about the artists and the music they love," said Simon Hopkins, Head of Music at BBCi.

"With Muze UK content, we are guaranteed to have the richest, most complete and current entertainment product information on our Web site. Using Muze's Encyclopedia of Popular Music data gives our users access to the world's most authoritative information source on rock, pop and jazz artists. We are especially excited about offering MuzeTunes to our music audience. This new service will help the BBC increase customer loyalty among music fans who can now use our site as a resource to sample new music," noted Hopkins.

"We are pleased the BBC has chosen Muze content for its popular informational Web site. Muze is dedicated to providing its UK customers with business grade entertainment information that is relevant to their specific audience and we are certain BBC users will find our data beneficial in their quest to discover new music," said Paul Zullo, co-founder and executive vice-president of Muze.

About BBC Radio & Music New Media

BBC Radio and Music New Media (R&M New Media) is a unit set up in December 2000 within the BBC's Radio and Music division to take its services and brands into new media environments, from DAB digital radio to the Internet, from digital TV to mobile phones. Its work encompasses taking the national radio networks online and developing radio and music applications for digital platforms, e.g. interactive TV.

About BBCi Music

As part of Radio and Music New Media, BBCi Music runs the BBC's music website at www.bbc.co.uk/music. It offers a portal to the best BBC music content on radio, TV and the net across a range of musical genres. There is also a range of deeper contextual information and features to be found at the portal's sister site, AboutMusic (www.bbc.co.uk/aboutmusic,) which gives users the chance to explore music across time, genres and artists. The BBCi Music team also looks after Web sites for several BBC music brands, notably the Proms and Top of the Pops. Key to our work is the development and maintenance of strong relationships right across the BBC, from the network radio online teams, to the TV Classical Music team, to other BBC divisions making music content, to external organisations with interests in music.

About Muze UK, Ltd.

Muze UK Ltd. was formed in 1999 to serve the UK entertainment market with market-specific music and DVD product content. Located in London, England, Muze UK serves some of the largest and most successful retailers and portals in the UK, including Amazon UK, Yahoo! UK, BBC, Tower Records, Microsoft, Woolworths, Streets Online, Jungle.com and QXL.

About Muze Inc.

Muze is the leading source of entertainment product information for music, books, videos, and games. Since 1991 Muze has provided businesses with the most comprehensive and accurate entertainment content designed to help their customers make informed purchasing decisions. Muze content drives commerce by providing customers with detailed information about entertainment products, turning browsers into buyers. More than 250 leading media/web properties rely on Muze's rich entertainment content to sell their products. In fact, Muze is the backbone of online commerce for major players in the entertainment retail business including America Online, Amazon, Tower Records, Best Buy, Virgin Megastores and MTV. Muze product information also drives commerce by providing in-store solutions for companies such as Transworld Entertainment, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Hastings and others. Muze is based in New York City with European headquarters in London. To learn more about Muze, please visit www.muze.com.