Mediaport Entertainment And Warner Music GroupTo Offer Music Through MusicATMs®
Warner Music Group (WMG) and Mediaport Entertainment, Inc., the nation's first unmanned MusicATM® company, today announced an agreement to offer consumers music from WMG's world-renowned labels and artists through Mediaport's retail kiosks, MusicATMs®, and website (www.mediaport.com)
Using Mediaport's MusicATM® kiosks found on select university campuses and retail locations, consumers can burn their own full-length CDs or create consumer-selected compilations from WMG's rich catalog. Additionally, consumers can download digital tracks securely from Mediaport's e-music store and transfer them to their WMA portable players.
Mediaport introduced the MusicATM® in Salt Lake City in November 2003, and is one of the first companies to integrate an e-Music store with an unmanned digital distribution system. This system is able to provide encrypted localized content to consumers at easily accessible locations.
Said John Esposito, president WEA Corp., WMG's U.S. sales and retail marketing company, "Our agreement with Mediaport illustrates Warner Music's commitment to offering consumers creative ways to access our music. We continue to work with our retail partners to explore innovative ways to give consumers what they want, when they want it."
Said Helen Seltzer, Mediaport's CEO, "The concept behind our company is simple: we bring music to the consumer rather than forcing them to come to the music. Now, thanks to our agreement with WMG, consumers will finally have the ability to buy the music they want, when and where they want to."
Music industry veteran Elliot Roberts is a member of Mediaport's Board, and has over the course of his career, managed such legendary artists as Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Tracy Chapman. Commenting on the WMG/Mediaport alliance, Roberts commented, "The artists that I represent have always wanted to get their music heard by as many people as possible. I am excited about Mediaport's MusicATM® concept. This agreement with WMG is going to make it easier for more people to get good music in a more convenient manner. It is the best solution to the problem of declining record sales that I've seen."
Mediaport Entertainment is targeting markets such as universities, military bases, travel centers, and mall-based lifestyle retail stores, and expects to have its point-of-sale burn- and download-on-demand MusicATMs® available on a number of university campuses and in LoveSac retail stores in the near future.
About Mediaport Entertainment
Mediaport, a Delaware corporation, with offices in Santa Monica and Salt Lake City, is scheduled to roll out 1,200 of its MusicATMs® over the next 12 months. Mediaport has agreements with retail outlets, colleges, military bases, and travel centers throughout the United States. Customers will be able to find Mediaport's MusicATMs® in most major metropolitan markets within the next 9 months; this will give Mediaport a national footprint with kiosks in 38 states. For more information about Mediaport Entertainment, visit our corporate website at www.mediaport.com.
About Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group, with its broad roster of new stars and legendary artists, is the world's largest privately held independent music company. The company is home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry including Atlantic, Elektra, Lava, Maverick, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Sire, Warner Bros. and Word. Warner Music International, a leading company in national and international repertoire operates through 37 affiliates and numerous licensees in more than 50 countries. Warner Music Group also includes Warner/Chappell Music, one of the world's leading music publishers, with a catalog of more than one million copyrights worldwide. For more information about Warner Music Group, visit our corporate web site at http://www.wmg.com.