News came today as predicted!September 23, 2004 09:00 AM US Eastern Timezone
Kinkysweet Recordings Rolls Out SunnComm's MediaMax Copy Management Technology
PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 2004--SunnComm International (OTC: SCMI) announced today that after a successful trial period, Kinkysweet Recordings (www.kinkysweet.com), part of the Overamerica Media Group, has made the decision to roll out MediaMax(TM) technology. The actual licensing agreement with California-based Kinkysweet Recordings was finalized several months ago.
After more than six commercial CD releases incorporating SunnComm's MediaMax (www.sunncomm.com) technology, Kinkysweet now intends to roll out the use of enhanced copy managed CDs across their Kinkysweet and Kinkybeat labels. "We needed a solution that would limit the ability of users to make unauthorized copies of our CDs, without limiting playability, and without adding long delays in our production schedule," says Jon Levy, CEO of Kinkysweet Recordings. "MediaMax addresses our issues and also provides us with an enhanced user experience."
SunnComm's CEO, Peter H Jacobs, commented, "Strong independent record companies like the Kinkysweet and Kinkybeat labels are every bit as important to the long-term acceptance and success of MediaMax as the major labels. The Kinkysweet executives have made it clear that their overriding priority is an enjoyable and user-friendly environment for their customers and SunnComm is the only organization that can currently deliver that experience. We look forward to a long and profitable relationship with Jon and the team at Kinkysweet Recordings."
"Kinkysweet's production team has been working in tandem with ours for several months, with the label uploading their assets and approving each project through SunnComm's web-based MediaMax builder tool. The process has been extremely productive and has directly contributed to this rollout," stated Michal Avniel, MediaMax Division V.P. "The builder tool, known as 'Sunny', allows the label to develop, review and approve projects in real-time according to their own schedule from home or office computers. Once the project is approved, it is only a matter of hours before the authored file set is generated and tested by our in-house quality control group and on its way to the manufacturing facility."
"In an industry worth $32 billion, where piracy is running rampant, SunnComm has consistently proven, release after release, that it can substantially reduce the sales drop-off with MediaMax," stated Scott Stoegbauer, QuietTiger's VP of Sales and Marketing (OTCBB: QTIG) (www.quiettiger.com) who helped establish the strategic partnership. "One in three music CDs purchased last year were pirated products, according to IFPI (www.ifpi.org). This is a huge number considering that there were well over 2.4 billion audio CDs sold worldwide in 2003. Meanwhile, recordable CDs outsold prerecorded music CDs by more than 2 to 1. Huge song-swapping services which trade in pirated music, such as KaZaa, have reported as many as 218 million users. There is no question that SunnComm and its record label customers believe that the use of MediaMax will help stem the casual and illegal copying of recorded CD music."
SunnComm's MediaMax suite of products delivers security for digital CD audio along with an enhanced consumer experience that provides additional bonus content and value-added features. MediaMax is wrapped in a user-friendly multi-media environment, mastered directly on the audio CD, and accessible using a personal computer. The newest security features include On-the-Fly Encoding(TM) and Secure Burn(TM). Bonus features include artist-related promotions, videos, song lyrics, artist bio page, photo gallery, web links, on-board press kits, and tune-sharing capability through SunnComm's MusicMail(TM) functionality.
ABOUT KINKYSWEET RECORDINGS
Launched by a group dance music industry veterans, Kinkysweet Recordings provides music for those who still have a passion for dance music, but whose lives do not necessarily include late night clubbing, those that have grown up on dance music but whose taste has changed a bit. Soulful, sexy house music has replaced hard trance. Funky eclectic beats have replaced banging techno. The team at Kinkysweet believes that we all evolve, and the music has evolved with us. Kinkysweet keeps the listener in touch with their dance music roots. Never intrusive, but always there - this is a more grown-up sound for the next chapter of one's life, artfully packaged and beautifully presented. Kinkysweet Recordings (www.kinkysweet.com) is part of the Overamerica Media Group which, in addition to DVD distribution and live event planning, also publishes two successful music lifestyle magazines in the dance music and hip-hop genres (BPM and Vapors), and operates one of the most highly trafficked websites serving the electronic music community (www.djmixed.com).
ABOUT SUNNCOMM
SunnComm International Inc. (OTC: SCMI) copy management and protection technology was first commercially released by Nashville's Music City records in 2001. The album, "Charley Pride - A Tribute to Jim Reeves," became the first commercial dual-session, copy-managed CD in America. SunnComm also became the first company to commercially release a content-protected audio CD utilizing an early version of the Windows Media Data Session Toolkit.(http://www.microsoft.com/presspass /press/2003/jan03/01-20SessionToolkitPR.asp) (Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste this hyperlink into your Internet browser's URL address field.)
In just four years, SunnComm has become the leader in digital content enhancement and security technology for audio compact disc media with its MediaMax suite of products, which has been successfully implemented on some of today's best selling music including Velvet Revolver, which reached the #1 spot on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart in addition to other major gold and platinum best-selling releases.
SunnComm's MediaMax suite of digital content enhancement technologies are created by integrating the Company's own proprietary technology with the Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Media 9 Series media player, but still operates on both Apple NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Windows-based systems (NASDAQ:MSFT). For more detailed information about the company, its vision or philosophy, personnel, partners, and customers, please visit the company's Web site at (http://www.sunncomm.com), or call the Company directly at (602) 267-7500. For additional information or investor relations please contact:
Company contact: Investor contact:
Peter H. Jacobs Investor Communications Consulting
602-267-7500 602-231-0681
peter@sunncomm.com SCMI@investorcc.com