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ROLLING STONE SELECTS REALNETWORKS AS DIGITAL MUSIC SERVICES PARTNER
Agreement Gives Real Exclusive Rights to RollingStone.com, Providing Powerful New Channel and Programming for Rhapsody and New RealPlayer Music Store
SEATTLE and NEW YORK — January 7, 2004 — RealNetworks®, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK), today announced that Wenner Media, the owner of flagship music publication Rolling Stone, has selected RealNetworks as its digital music services partner for Rolling Stone as part of a seven-year global licensing agreement that brings together the world’s leading music brand and the leading creator of digital media services and software. As part of that agreement, RealNetworks has taken over operations of RollingStone.com, the official online presence for pop culture icon Rolling Stone and one of the Web’s most popular sources for music news and information. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Through this relationship consumers visiting RollingStone.com will be offered the opportunity to purchase music from the music store in the new RealPlayer 10 media player. In addition, RealNetworks’ partnership with Wenner Media gives the company exclusive online rights to Rolling Stone’s rich archive of music news and its extensive collection of photos documenting the defining moments in rock ‘n roll. These assets will provide a richer experience for music fans through RealNetworks’ market-leading Rhapsody Internet jukebox service and the music guide and music store in RealPlayer 10.
"Rolling Stone is quite simply the world’s leading music brand, and we couldn’t pass up the chance to join Jann and his team in transforming the way consumers discover, experience and enjoy music online," said Rob Glaser, chairman and CEO of RealNetworks. "Partnering with Rolling Stone provides a valuable new way for us to reach a large audience of Net-savvy music fans with our online music products and services, and a powerful way to differentiate our roster of holdings in the digital music space."
The independent editorial team at Wenner Media will continue to offer RollingStone.com readers access to the best in music news and reviews, artist photos, music videos, and music downloads. RealNetworks will build on this core offering by making its music products and services, including Rhapsody and the new RealPlayer 10, available throughout the RollingStone.com site. Until now, Wenner Media, which also owns men’s lifestyle magazine Men’s Journal and entertainment title Us Weekly, has maintained the RollingStone.com site through a joint arrangement with Vivendi Universal.
"RealNetworks is the ideal online partner for Rolling Stone, sharing our passion for music and focus on providing music lovers with new ways to experience, learn about and interact with music," said Jann S. Wenner, founder and publisher, Rolling Stone. "Rolling Stone is the world’s most prominent source of news and information about music, and we are proud to have Real as our strategic partner in delivering the definitive online music experience."
Today’s news further strengthens RealNetworks’ portfolio of online music assets. The company is the market leader in offering subscription-based services for music fans, with more than 350,000 subscribers for its Rhapsody and RadioPass™ services as of the end of December 2003. Consumer usage of Rhapsody, the #1 Internet jukebox service, has increased nearly 200% over the past six months, with subscribers playing more than one million songs per day on average since November.
For More Information:
Matt Graves, RealNetworks, 415-290-3503, mgraves@real.com
Claudia Diromualdo, Wenner Media, 212-484-1707, claudia.diromualdo@rollingstone.com
About RealNetworks, Inc.
RealNetworks, Inc. is the leading creator of digital media services and software including the award-winning Rhapsody Internet jukebox service and RealPlayer 10, the first product to integrate finding, organizing, buying, playing and managing digital audio and video in a single product. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks’ consumer software at http://www.real.com. Broadcasters, network operators, media companies and enterprises use RealNetworks’ products and services to create and deliver digital media to PCs, mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. RealNetworks’ systems and corporate information is located at http://www.realnetworks.com.
About Rolling Stone
Profound, moving and memorable, Rolling Stone is the voice of rock 'n roll. The magazine focuses on all forms of social behavior and American society. The brand is synonymous with the what, when, where and why of youth culture. Rolling Stone provides all the news that fits to 11.7 million readers every two weeks.
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