SNOCAP Signs Agreement with Warner Music Group, Securing Industry-Wide Commitment by All Major Labels to Greatly Expand Digital Music Distribution
SAN FRANCISCO & NEW YORK--Nov. 14, 2005--SNOCAP and Warner Music Group Corp. (NYSE:WMG - News), one of the world's largest record companies, today announced an agreement to allow the authorized distribution of WMG's award-winning recorded music across SNOCAP-enabled retail services. With today's announcement, SNOCAP has now allied with all four of the world's largest record companies. This marks a major step forward for the music industry in its ongoing commitment to provide consumers with a deeper, more compelling digital music experience.
"Thanks to Warner's commitment and belief in our vision, we're thrilled to have all four major record labels on board to validate SNOCAP's visionary plan to move the digital music business to the next level," said Rusty Rueff, SNOCAP CEO. "Warner understands the value SNOCAP provides to rights holders, peer-to-peer services and consumers alike. We look forward to working with them and the rest of the recording industry to help drive the expansion of the online music marketplace."
"We support SNOCAP's innovative approach to enabling services that offer consumers all the benefits of the peer-to-peer experience with the comfort of knowing that they can enjoy it in a legal and trusted environment," said Alex Zubillaga, Executive Vice President, Digital Strategy and Business Development for WMG. "We believe in the power of peer-to-peer technology and we're glad to see it join our arsenal of other digital platforms that, going forward, will enable Warner Music Group to continue to grow opportunities for artists to reach music fans in multiple ways."
"With WMG as an ally, our vision for expanding the digital music marketplace just got one giant step closer to reality," said Shawn Fanning, SNOCAP's Founder. "With the music of all four majors and our ongoing effort to add indies and individual artists, we can turn our full attention on helping new services reach consumers with the depth and breadth of content that they don't have legitimate access to now."
part of the agreement, WMG will deliver and register its music with SNOCAP, giving SNOCAP-enabled retailers the opportunity to offer WMG's music to consumers.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
SNOCAP is the first end-to-end solution for online music distribution and copyright management with specific features to enable open and authorized peer-to-peer systems. SNOCAP enables record labels to manage their catalog of digital masters and related acoustic fingerprints that uniquely identifies and tracks their music. SNOCAP's Digital Registry enables record labels, such as Warner Music Group, and artists to set business rules for each track or album, on a worldwide basis. SNOCAP delivers the use terms established by rights holders to P2P services for any content that has been registered with SNOCAP. This enables P2P retailers to authorize the sale of registered music while allowing record labels and artists to embrace new distribution opportunities.
About SNOCAP
Founded in 2002, SNOCAP, Inc., based in San Francisco, offers record labels, publishers, and artists an end-to-end solution for digital licensing and copyright management services. Through SNOCAP, operators of authorized peer-to-peer services and online retailers will have access to the largest possible catalog of authorized content that has historically been available only on unauthorized services. SNOCAP provides digital music technology and services to Universal Music Group, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, EMI, Warner Music Group, TVT Records, Artemis Records/Sheridan Square Entertainment, Beggars Group, Matador Records, V2 Records, One Little Indian Records, Ryko Group and an extensive roster of other leading independent labels. SNOCAP's easy-to-use service for registering digital content and managing online distribution will enable a more vibrant digital marketplace with better selection and a variety of compelling business models. SNOCAP's database will include current hits, new releases, live recordings, remixes, B-sides and out-of-print tracks culled from major labels, independent and unsigned artists. For more information, visit www.snocap.com.
About Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group (WMG) became the only stand-alone music company to be publicly traded in the United States in May 2005. With its broad roster of new stars and legendary artists, Warner Music Group is home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry including Asylum, Atlantic, Bad Boy, East West, Elektra, Lava, Maverick, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Sire, Warner Bros. and Word. Warner Music International, a leading company in national and international repertoire, operates through numerous international affiliates and 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 website at www.wmg.com.