Liquid Audio Introduces Fifth Generation Music Player Software - Liquid Player Five Now
Available
PR Newswire, Tuesday, July 18, 2000 at 10:26
Internet Retailers Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, Best Buy, CDNOW, CDPlus,
Chapters.ca, CheckOut.com, CIMS, Face the Music, Harmony House, HMV, J&R,
Musicland, National Record Mart, Tower Records and Virgin JamCast to Use Liquid Player Five to
Offer Consumers an Easy Secure Digital Music Experience
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., July 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Liquid Audio, Inc. (NASDAQ:LQID) today
announced the release of its fifth generation music player software -- Liquid(TM) Player Five is now
available for free download from www.liquidaudio.com. Retail and consumer tested, Liquid Player Five
simplifies the digital music experience by making confusing Internet music formats, security and
digital rights management (DRM) systems easy-to-use and transparent to consumers. Liquid Player
Five's new FastTrack(TM) security feature, developed in concert with leading Internet retailers, sets
new standards for the consumer friendly consumption of secure content on both the Mac and
Windows platforms. In addition to FastTrack security, the new Liquid(TM) Player Plus version of the
software is designed to deliver secure compatibility with CD-RW drives and portable digital devices
being manufactured by leading consumer electronics companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Plextor,
Sanyo, Sony and Toshiba.
(Photo: newscom.com )
"While other distributors claim to have a working, secure solution for delivering music over the Internet,
Liquid Audio's software and services have been 'road-tested,' not just lab-tested," said Gerry Kearby,
President and CEO of Liquid Audio, Inc. "Our new Liquid Player Five software will help further
accelerate participation in digital music by simplifying the consumer's music shopping experience."
Several leading Internet retailers have or will soon deploy Liquid Player Five with new FastTrack
Security to offer consumers the easiest-to-use, secure digital music experience on the Internet. They
include major retailers such as: Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, Best Buy, CDNOW, CDPlus,
Chapters.ca, CheckOut.com, CIMS, Face the Music, Harmony House, HMV, J&R, Musicland,
National Record Mart, Tower Records, and Virgin JamCast.
"As we expand the products and services we offer our customers, Barnes & Noble.com is dedicated
to keeping our site and technology user friendly," said Daniel Blackman, vice president of Music,
Video and Software for Barnes & Noble.com. "Liquid Audio is helping us make it simple for our
customers to securely download and listen to the latest music."
"Ease of shopping for our customers is critical," said Gil Wachsman, vice chairman at Musicland.
"We believe the addition of Liquid Audio's Liquid Player Five to our Web sites (SamGoody.com,
Suncoast.com, MediaPlay.com and OnCue.com) enhances the shopping experiences for our online
customers by making legitimate downloading from our sites simple."
About New Liquid Player Five
New Liquid Player Five offers users an easy-to-use, secure solution for purchasing and downloading
music over the Internet. With Liquid Player Five, Macintosh and PC users can stream, download,
purchase, play back and burn audio CDs-all from one application. The new product simplifies the
consumer experience so confusing formats, security and digital rights management (DRM) systems
are easy-to-use and transparent. Liquid Player
Five lets music fans access digital music in the most formats (Liquid Audio, MP3, WAV, Audio CD,
and, soon, Windows Media) and audio codecs (AAC, ATRAC3, AC-3 and MP3) from one integrated
player. Music fans can also use Liquid Player Five to burn custom CDs on many popular CD-R and
CD-RW drives, including those from Sony, HP and Plextor.
Security That's Flexible and Easy to Use
Liquid Player Five also offers new flexible security options that protect music on the Internet and
match users' mobility needs. Consumers can download music to one computer with new
FastTrack(TM) security, a fast and easy way to buy secure music online. Users who have multiple
computers can get a Liquid(TM) Passport to playback music on more than one computer, while
keeping content secure and copy protected.
Liquid Player Plus For Portable Devices
Liquid Audio also released new Liquid Player Plus software to enable consumers to import music from
audio CDs in a secure format and export secure Liquid(TM) Tracks to portable devices and CD-RW
drives from Liquid Audio's OEM partners. Liquid Player Plus features all the benefits of Liquid Player
Five for streaming, downloading, purchasing, playing back and burning audio CDs. Sony's line of
Spressa CD-RW drives will bundle Liquid Player Plus, to give consumers the ability to make custom
CD compilations using music from the Internet. Liquid Player Plus is bundled with the following
products and can be used to download music to portable devices from Sony's VAIO Music Clip and
Memory Stick Walkman products, Sanyo Fisher's portable SSP-PD7 Solid State Audio Player and
SSP-HP7 all-in-one portable Headphone/Player, and Toshiba's MEA110AS mobile audio player. In
addition, leading consumer electronics companies are leveraging the secure portable player platform
(SP3) in Liquid Player Plus to build digital music devices that playback Liquid(TM) Tracks.
Liquid Audio also announced today that Atlantic Records will release two Led Zeppelin tracks "All My
Love" and "Rock and Roll," as free digital downloads exclusively through Liquid Player Five. Atlantic
Records will also offer new music from Edwin McCain, "Beautiful Life" from his album, "Messenger,"
Sinead O'Connor's latest hit, "No Man's Woman" from her new album "Faith & Courage" and former
Hootie and the Blowfish band member Mark Bryan's "If It Happens," from his solo album "30 On the
Rail." In addition, the track "Girls Like Us," by B-15 featuring Chrissy D. and Lady G. will be available
from the "Groove" soundtrack on Kinetic Records. Furthermore, music is provided by Virgin/ForeFront
Record's platinum selling, Grammy-winning Christian act, dcTalk, whose classic hit "Jesus Freak" will
be available as a paid download from their forthcoming greatest hits release this Fall. Finally, Rounder
Records is making a live track from Jimmie Dale Gilmore, "No Lonesome Tune," available as a paid
download. This new content will be available, beginning today, exclusively through participating retail
and music Web sites in the Liquid(TM) Music Network. Additionally, promotional and commercial
downloads from more than 8,500 artists on 1,400 record labels are available through Liquid Player
software, including major labels BMG Entertainment, EMI Recorded Music, Warner Music Group and
Universal Music, as well as independent labels Beggars Banquet Group, Smithsonian Folkways
Recordings, Sub Pop and Vanguard Records. As a result, fans can access the most music -- in
multiple Internet music formats -- using Liquid Player Five software.
Liquid Audio, Inc. is a leading provider of software and services for the digital delivery of music over the
Internet. The Liquid Audio solution gives musicians, record labels, Web sites and music retailers the
ability to publish, syndicate and securely sell recorded music online with copy protection and
copyright management. Using the Liquid(TM) Player software, available for free download at
www.liquidaudio.com, music fans can preview and purchase downloadable music from the more than
800 affiliate Web sites in the Liquid Music Network(SM). Traded on Nasdaq under the symbol LQID,
Liquid Audio is located in Redwood City, California.
NOTE: Liquid, Liquid Audio, Inc., Liquid Audio, the Liquid Audio logo, Liquifier and Liquid Music are
trademarks of Liquid Audio, Inc.
Certain of the above statements constitute forward-looking statements which may involve risks and
uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from such forward looking statements as a result of
a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, technology changes, competitive developments,
consumer acceptance with and experience using Liquid Player Five and Liquid Player Plus, industry
acceptance of new products and services, including Liquid Player Five and Liquid Player Plus, and
risk factors listed from time to time in Liquid Audio's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Addendum: Retailer Quotes and Contact Info
"We are pleased to offer our 4.2 million customers the opportunity to download music using new
Liquid Player Five software," said Tracie Reed, vice president of Merchandising at CDNOW. "We've
been working with Liquid Audio for quite some time now, and we have been very happy with the quality
of their products. We view Liquid Player Five as an ideal software player to listen to digital downloads;
its new features further simplify the downloading process for customers and provide for secure, top
quality transactions." CDNOW
Marlo Zoda, 215-619-9432, email: mzoda@cdnow.com
"We are very excited about the potential of Liquid Player Five," said Bill Birss, vice president of
Internet Development at CD Plus.com. "From the streaming, downloading, playback and audio burning
capabilities to the new Music Organizer feature, the new player software will fulfill all our customer's
music needs in one fell swoop."
CD Plus.com
Shael Risman, 905-629-9255, ext. 249, email: srisman@cdplus.com
"Chapters.ca is committed to being a leader in bringing new technologies and products to Canadians
shopping online," said David Hainline, chief operating officer and executive vice president, Chapters
Online Inc. "Giving our customers access to this simple yet rich feature, and to great digital music
now available through Liquid Player Five, is another step forward in the execution of our digital delivery
strategy."
Chapters.ca
Susan Stevenson, 416-263-5078, email: sstevenson@chapters.ca
"As a leading online entertainment destination, it's important for us to provide our users an
easy-to-use solution for accessing their favorite digital music on the Internet," said Jason Fiber, vice
president of Digital Strategies at CheckOut.com. "Liquid Player Five supports multiple formats,
including MP3's, so music fans can access the most music from the Web and export secure content
to many portable devices."
CheckOut.com
Jason Fiber, 310-860-8750, email: Jason@checkout.com
"With the announcement of Liquid Player Five, we can provide users easier access to secure music
from major artists," said Frank Koblun of HMV.com. "Liquid Player Five is the only Internet music
player today that allows customers to stream, download, playback and burn CD's in a single
application."
HMV.com
Fiona Bishop at Strategic Objectives, 416-366-7735, email: fbishop@strategic-objectives.com
"J&R is excited to offer its selection of digital music to its consumers through the new functionality of
the Liquid Player Five," said Fred Gerantab, marketing manager of Online Music and Content
Development at J&R. This is a welcome addition to our newly upgraded online store."
J&R Music World/JandR.com
Larry Reich, 212-238-9000, ext. 2228, email: larryr@mail.jandr.com
"There are a lot of players out there, and as a retailer you're really in a quandary," said Mike Farrace,
senior vice president of Digital at Tower Records. "One nice thing about Liquid Player Five is that you
can buy, stream, download, burn and playback tracks on both Mac and PC, and the purchase
process is very very simple. It supports a slew of digital formats and plug-ins, and sounds great."
Tower Records
Louise Solomon, 916-373-2574, email: lousol@towerrecords.com
"We've enjoyed a long-term relationship with Liquid Audio, using their software and distribution
services to deliver secure, CD-quality music to our customers via the Internet," said Patrick Gilbert,
general manager of Virgin JamCast. "The new Liquid Player Five, makes confusing formats and
security systems transparent, making the digital download experience even easier for music fans."
Virgin JamCast
Cathy Planchard, email: cplanchard@wavo.com
SOURCE Liquid Audio, Inc.
-0- 07/18/2000
/CONTACT: press only, Kim Strop, 650-549-2194, or kstrop@liquidaudio.com, or Josh Mills,
650-549-2178, or jmills@liquidaudio.com, both of Liquid Audio, Inc.; or Chiyoko Ono of Liquid Audio
Japan, 650-854-3241, or chiyokoo@aol.com/
/Photo: NewsCom: newscom.com
AP Archive: photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 201-369-3467/
/Web site: liquidaudio.com
Companies or Securities discussed in this article:
Symbol
Name
NASDAQ:LQID
Liquid Audio, Inc. |
