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NAPSTER AND AIM SIGN WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
LONDON - (May 12, 2004) - Napster, a subsidiary of Roxio, Inc. (Nasdaq: ROXI), has signed a worldwide distribution deal with UK independent labels body AIM, the Association of Independent Music. Initially, 50,000 tracks from 50 of AIM’s 800 member companies will be made available for digital downloading and streaming through the new Napster service when it launches in the UK this summer. Napster members in the US will also gain access to this content, as soon as repertoire is uploaded. The licensing deal will also be made available to Continental European labels under the IMPALA (Independent Music Companies Association) umbrella. The deal, negotiated by AIM’s new media arm Musicindie and administered by Rightsrouter, includes repertoire from Ninja Tune, Domino, Cooking Vinyl, Gut, Skint, The Leaf Label, !K7 and Hospital. Artists featured include Kruder & Dorfmeister, Coldcut, Mr Scruff, Billy Bragg, Roots Manuva, Kid Koala, Cinematic Orchestra, A Man Called Adam and The Orb. Many other AIM members are expected to take advantage of the agreement over the coming months. "Napster creates the ultimate community experience for music fans and the variety, quality and originality of music from the independent UK sector is a vital to delivering this experience," said Napster president Brad Duea. "The Association of Independent Music has shown great foresight in joining forces with Napster at this time and has underlined its reputation as an influential player on the international music scene." "Napster is going to make a big difference to music fans in the UK. At last we have a legitimate service from the world's leading online brand, which offers flexibility in streaming and downloading to music fans. It also takes our music to fans around the world, confirming the promise that the internet can deliver a global business to independent artists and record companies," said AIM chairman and chief executive Alison Wenham. Napster 2.0 creates an immersive music community where users can quickly search for music; discover artists, burn CDs and transfer tracks onto currently over 60 portable devices that support Microsoft Windows Media Audio and Digital Rights Management. Its easy-to-use interface also allows users to access charts, messageboards, online radio, share playlists and email songs to each other. Members can pick their own playlists, instantly see which track is playing by which artist, listen to it, skip it, download it or burn a copy. About AIM The Association of Independent Music is the non-profit trade body established in 1998 by UK independent record labels to represent the independent record sector, 1/4 of the UK market. This cutting edge sector generated 30% of UK platinum selling artist albums in 2003 and 5 out of 12 nominees and winnerof the Mercury Music Prize 2003. Other UK independent signed artists include Travis, Stereophonics, Craig David, Feeder, Franz Ferdinand, British Sea Power, Mr. Scruff, So Solid Crew, Strokes, Royksopp, Underworld, Moloko, Katie Melua, Martina Topley-Bird, Coldcut, Libertines and thousands of others. AIM has 800 members, all of whom are UK-based independent record labels or distributors. AIM's remit is to work collectively to enable its members to grow, grasp new opportunities and break into new markets. AIM set up the first collective negotiation structure for licensing repertoire through its Internet Trials, through its new media arm Musicindie. www.musicindie.org About Musicindie Musicindie is AIM’s new media arm, managed by rights management company Rightsrouter (www.rightsrouter.com). Musicindie’s remit is to research, develop & implement solutions to support and help develop the UK music industry. It represents AIM members collectively in Internet and mobile licensing deals around the world. It is also involved in a variety of European consortium R & D projects. Musicindie has pioneered collective deals with Napster, Yahoo!, O2 Music, Wippit, OD2 and Japanese ISP So-Net, and recently facilitated the first royalties from broadband services in China to be paid to UK labels. About Napster Napster® is the world's most recognized brand in online music. Napster has content agreements with the five major record labels, as well as hundreds of independents. Napster delivers access to the largest catalog of online music with hundreds of thousands of tracks spanning all genres and artists from Eminem to Miles Davis. Napster is a division of Roxio, Inc., (Nasdaq: ROXI), the Digital Media Company, provider of the best-selling digital media software in the world. Napster has offices in Los Angeles, New York and San Diego. Napster contact: Adam Howorth Communications Director Tel: +44 (0) 207 1017281 adam.howorth@napster.co.uk AIM contact: Sam Shemtob Tel: +44 (0) 208 357 7305 Mob: +44 (0) 7957 227183 sam@musicindie.com Safe Harbor Statement Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this press release, in particular matters related to Napster’s relationship with AIM and the launch of the Napster service internationally are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties such as failure to maintain relationships with strategic partners and content providers; failure to obtain content licenses in international markets; general economic conditions; governmental regulation and third party claims, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Additional information on these and other factors are contained in Roxio’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q as filed with the SEC on February 17, 2004, copies of which are available at the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. Roxio assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this press release. Copyright © 2004 Napster, LLC. All rights reserved. Roxio, the Roxio tagline and Napster are registered trademarks of Roxio, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks used are owned by their respective owners.
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