This could be some good news!!!
BW1457 JUN 28,1999 9:57 PACIFIC 12:57 EASTERN
( BW)(NY-WOODSTOCK-99/VIRTUAL) Woodstock 99 Goes Virtual
Business Editors, Entertainment Writers
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28, 1999--
Woodstock.com, AMP3, and Mediabay Online Webcasts to Augment the
30th Anniversary Festival and Pay Per View Broadcast
Gotcha.com Exclusive Presenting Sponsor for Webcast
The spirit of the '60s merges with '90s technology as Woodstock LLC signs its webcast partnerships with www.woodstock.com, www.AMP3.com, www.gotcha.com and www.mediabay.com, it was announced today by John Scher, president of Metropolitan Entertainment and producer, Woodstock 99.
"Woodstock has always been about the free exchange of ideas. The Internet is the ultimate way to extend the Woodstock 99 community to give fans of music, sports and entertainment all over the world the chance to be a part of the experience in a whole new way," says John Scher.
www.woodstock.com, the official site for the Woodstock 99 festival will host the most anticipated web event of the summer with a three-day continuous webcast of the Woodstock 99 Arts and Music Festival. Beginning on Friday, July 23rd at 12:00 p.m. EST and ending Monday, July 26th at 2:00 a.m. EST -- www.woodstock.com will offer viewers unique documentary programming of the summer's biggest, hottest music event -- including interviews, backstage footage, action shots from the Extreme Sports Park and produced comedy and lifestyle segments.
"This will set a new standard for how music events are presented over the Internet. The size and scope of this webcast is on a scale consistent with the enormity of the festival itself," comments Woodstock.com CEO Rand Bleimeister.
Woodstock.com has fast become a 24-hour-a-day virtual music festival on the Internet. The site includes all the rich content, live music, community and commerce you expect to see at a major music festival. Owned and operated by MusicNow, Inc., Woodstock.com is also a leading Internet broadcaster of live and pre-recorded music content.
In an unprecedented arrangement, the www.AMP3.com web site has positioned itself as the exclusive MP3 provider of Woodstock 99. The 30th Anniversary festival site will house a 10,000 square-foot digital demonstration pavilion featuring streams and downloads of AMP3.com independent artists' music utilizing Microsoft Windows Media Technologies including Microsoft's new Digital Rights Management solution.
"This is a rare opportunity to be part of music history," says Michael Sharp, president/founder of AMP3.com. "We are proud to team with Woodstock 99 to bring the world another three days of peace, love and music."
AMP3.com, the Internet's newest and fastest growing MP3 Web site is committed to featuring start-up musicians alongside industry names and has successfully delivered more than 350,000 downloads since launching its site four months ago. What distinguishes it from other MP3 sites is its outspoken cooperative stance toward the recording industry's efforts to devise a standard for the MP3 technology that will better protect, copyright and that all of the more than 3,000 artists on the site get paid for every download.
Action sports lifestyle portal, Gotcha.com has signed on as the official sponsor of the Woodstock 99 Web cast. Gotcha.com takes its participation in Woodstock 99 to the extreme, with its adrenaline-charged blend of sports, music and technology.
Onsite activities include the Gotcha.com Adrenaline Sports Park and live broadcast of the Gotcha Pro -- Association of Surfing Professionals Sanctioned World Tour live from Huntington Beach, Calif.
"The integration of music, sports, lifestyle, competition and entertainment is an important aspect of the Gotcha Brand. We're thrilled to be the sole Internet sponsor of Woodstock 99 as well as hosting the Action Sports Park," says Marvin Winkler, CEO of Gotcha.com.
Gotcha.com has developed a virtual community around the alternative sports lifestyle. Gotcha.com represents the portal for information, news and interactive media for alternative sports on the Internet. Gotcha.com, while establishing itself as the virtual community for alternative sports enthusiasts worldwide, is first to recognize that the power of the community is driven by the individual sports themselves. For this reason, Gotcha.com has created vertical communities for surfing, wakeboarding, bodyboarding, skate boarding, snow boarding, BMX, In-Line skating and Moto X. Expansion into other alternative sports and music ventures are planned for the millennium.
In addition, Audio Book Club Inc. (AMEX:KLB) announced today that its Mediabay.com portal has been selected as an official webcast affiliate for Woodstock 99. Mediabay.com visitors will be able to access live audio and video feeds during the festival by registering with the site at no cost.
"Next month's live audio and video webcast will coincide with the full launch of our innovative Mediabay.com portal, which we have developed to provide a seamless gateway to the very latest online entertainment content and e-commerce services," says Norton Herrick, chairman and CEO of Audio Book Club. "We believe that Woodstock 99 is truly representative of the type of unique entertainment content we intend to offer on our media-commerce portal site, and are delighted to have the opportunity to play such a tremendous role in one of the largest music events ever staged."
Audio Book Club Inc. is the world's largest marketer of audiobooks through its membership club, which markets and sells audiobooks and music via the Internet at www.audiobookclub.com and by mail order. Mediabay.com will offer visitors a single location for the entertainment features of leading content-driven websites and the product selection and service of great commerce-drive sites. Audio Book Club, Inc. is also a publisher of audio and video content including classic radio and video programs and markets and sells that content on audio cassette, CD's, and video cassettes via numerous distribution channels including the Internet at www.radiospirits.com, catalogues, radio shows, retail and other outlets. Since commencing operations in January 1994, Audio Book Club, Inc. has engaged in an aggressive membership recruitment to establish a core Audio Book Club member base. Following its recent acquisitions of Doubleday's Audiobooks Direct and Columbia House's Audiobook Club, Inc. now has a combined membership and customer database of over 2 million names.
The Woodstock 99 line up includes Bush, The Chemical Brothers, George Clinton & the P-Funk All Stars, Collective Soul, Counting Crows, Creed, Sheryl Crow, DMX, Everclear, Everlast, Fatboy Slim, Foo Fighters, Godsmack, Guster, Mickey Hart-Planet Drum, Ice Cube, Jamiroquai, Wyclef Jean & the Refugee Allstars, Jewel, Kid Rock, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Lit, Live, Los Lobos, Dave Matthews Band, Metallica, moe., Alanis Morissette, Willie Nelson, Mike Ness, Our Lady Peace, Rage Against The Machine, Sugar Ray, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rusted Root, Brian Setzer Orchestra, The Offspring and The Tragically Hip who will play the 30th Anniversary of the music festival scheduled for July 23rd-25th in Rome, N.Y.
Individual Woodstock 99 tickets are available through Ticketmaster at 212-397-7474 or in Canada at 416-870-8000 and online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets in the Northeastern United States and Canada only. Individual ticket price is $150.00 -- not including applicable taxes, surcharges and a $5.00 parking fee. Ticket price includes entrance to the festival and camping.
Official Woodstock 99 information is available at www.woodstock.com.
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