Dec. 9, 2003-- Sonopress LLC, a global leader in
media services and turnkey production operations, and SunnComm Technologies,
Inc. announced today that they have entered into a worldwide licensing and
reseller agreement in which Sonopress will market, manufacture and distribute
MediaMax Music Managemant - M4 (TM), SunnComm's proprietary audio CD music
management and enhancement technology. Sunncomm's MediaMax suite of products
delivers security for digital audio and an enhanced consumer experience
providing additional bonus content and value-added features available in a
user-friendly multi-media session that is mastered on the audio CD and
accessible using a personal computer
This enhanced
CD product, will provide a new motivation for music fans to purchase a CD that
also provides them with a legal and licensed structure to create authorized
copies of music without having to violate artist's, record companies or music
publishers copyrights. In addition to increased security for the digital audio
content, SunnComm MediaMax CDs entitle the consumer to access special bonus
features and enhancements to the disc. This additional content may include bonus
music, music videos, product promotional clips, digital photo's, artist and
concert/tour information, song lyrics, bonus tracks, special artist and record
label offers, contest prizes and other valuable items included to increase the
consumer's entertainment experience and the perceived value of CD pricing.
Under this agreement, SunnComm will earn a per unit
royalty for each MediaMax CD manufactured by Sonopress. Additionally, the two
organizations will share the revenue generated from the content handling of the
digital assets necessary to build the second session user interface. This
content handling process will be a requirement for each project mastered using
the MediaMax product.
"We are excited to work with SunnComm and provide
the MediaMax technology to music markets around the world," said Scott Wilker,
VP of Business Development. "The MediaMax technology is ready for production;
it's already online at the Sonopress plant in Weaverville, NC. Sonopress is
already producing commercial and promotional CD releases in North America
utilizing the MediaMax technology and is ready to aggressively market and deploy
this music management product on a global basis."
Following extensive evaluation and testing,
Sonopress concluded that SunnComm's MediaMax(TM) products are a very effective
solution to dealing with the "Casual CD Piracy" problem in the music industry.
The MediaMax technology allows for a reliable layer of audio content security,
without compromising the quality of the music. The MediaMax solution provides
complete cross platform playability and compatibility with existing consumer
electronic devices including all CD and DVD players, and PC's and car stereos.
SunnComm's Media Max Music Management - M4 (TM)
product line is the first and only music management and CD enhancement
technology to be licensed for general worldwide commercial & promotional
release by a major record label including the US market. Among others, the
Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG, www.bmg.com) announced
a similar license agreement with SunnComm in June 2003.
"It is only right that the first company to release
copy management and enhancement technology in the US (in 2001) should be the one
with the first worldwide reseller agreement with Sonopress," said SunnComm's
President, Bill Whitmore said, "The dedicated and knowledgeable professionals at
Sonopress have provided SunnComm invaluable guidance, creativity and support
during the development process. We have built a copy management & CD
enhancement solution that works for the artist, record labels, music publishers,
distributors, retailers, CD manufacturers and most importantly the consumer."
Sonopress and SunnComm are committed to an
expeditious worldwide rollout of Media Max Music Management - M4 (TM) suite of
products to Sonopress facilities around the globe. Sonopress CD manufacturing
facilities worldwide will be able to produce SunnComm protected CD's for their
record label customers in the first quarter of 2004. The implementation process
for MediaMax will not require a software upgrade to existing systems and will
not require any other modifications to the manufacturing process. The Media Max
Music Management - M4 (TM) design allows for easy integration into existing
operations without any new equipment purchases.
About Sonopress
The Sonopress Group is the leading international
provider of value-added outsourced services to a broad range of customers in the
music, film/video, publishing, games and computer industries. As the world's
second largest optical disc replicator, we offer all services around CD, CD-ROM,
DVD and cassettes. Sonopress' mission is to add value by managing customers
supply chain requirements and take publishers content to market. Our E-Service
Solutions assist our clients in developing secure music on demand and electronic
software distribution models as well as financial clearing for the internet.
With 3,500 employees worldwide, Sonopress runs manufacturing operations in
Europe (6), North and South America (7), Africa (1) and Asia (4).
About SunnComm Technologies, Inc.
SunnComm Technologies, Inc. is a cutting edge
creative software developer and leading provider of digital content enhancement
and security technologies for optical media with their proprietary MediaMax(TM)
suite of products. SunnComm's first copy-constraint technology (MediaCloQ) was
commercially released by Music City records in 2001 and became America's first
copy-protected audio CD. In 2003, SunnComm became the first CD copy control and
enhancement technology to be licensed for general release by a major record
company - BMG. SunnComm's MediaMax(TM) Suite of Digital Content Enhancement
technologies is built upon the Microsoft Windows Media 9 Series Digital Media
Platform.
MediaMax(TM), Digital Content Cloaking Technology,
DC2, PromoPlay(TM) and SunnComm are registered and/or trademarks of SunnComm
Technologies, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. The names of
actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their
respective owners.
For more detailed information about the company,
its vision or philosophy, personnel, partners, and customers, please visit the
company's website at http://www.sunncomm.com.
About MediaMax M4
MediaMax(TM) is a collection of patent pending
technologies that provides copy control for CD's, while simultaneously enhancing
and expanding the consumer's entertainment experience. MediaMax(TM) is tightly
integrated with Microsoft's Windows Media Platform and the Digital Rights
Management capabilities associated with the latest Windows Media Platforms.
SunnComm licenses and uses Windows Media Audio DRM capabilities from Microsoft
as the security feature for these multi-media files.
Statements contained in this release, which are not
historical facts, may be considered "forward-looking statements" under the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are
based on current expectations and the current economic environment.
We caution the reader that such forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance. Unknown risk, uncertainties
as well as other uncontrollable or unknown factors could cause actual results to
materially differ from the results, performance, or expectations expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements.
Source: Yahoo.com
