Bought some DIMD on loads of news and on MP3 IPO.
News July 20, 09:20 Eastern Time
RioPort Inc. and Universal Music Grup Agree to Make Music Content Available to SDMI-Compliant RioPort Platform; RioPort Platform Will Offer
Popular New Digital Music to Consumers
SAN JOSE, Calif., Jul 20, 1999 (BUSINESS WIRE via COMTEX) -- RioPort Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Diamond Multimedia Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: DIMD), today announced that Universal Music Group will deliver secure, popular music to RioPort's SDMI-compliant portable flash memory devices and will develop an initiative to harmonize digital delivery services offered by both companies in the future.
RioPort will be one of the first digital audio platforms to offer a broad range of content from Universal Music Group's record labels, which include Interscope, A&M, Island, Def Jam, Geffen, MCA, Universal, Motown, GRP and Verve, among others.
"Universal Music Group's support of the RioPort platform is great news for digital audio enthusiasts worldwide," said David Watkins, president of RioPort. "RioPort and Universal will work closely together to integrate and promote Universal's music content with our RioPort.com Web site and SDMI-compliant Rio portable digital audio players.
"We hope that our agreement with Universal is one of many that will deliver popular music content to RioPort customers. We expect Universal's content to be available in the winter."
Larry Kenswil, president, Electronic Commerce and Advanced Technology, Universal Music Group commented: "UMG will support our artists by providing the broadest and deepest reach for their music. We encourage SDMI standards and are happy that RioPort is one of the first to announce a compliant device."
Both RioPort and Universal are supporting InterTrust as a preferred provider of digital rights management technology to ensure the protection of content copyright holders. Early on, RioPort partnered with InterTrust and Reciprocal to ensure the security of content delivery through its RioPort.com site, Rio Audio Manager software and Rio brand portable playback solutions.
"Our deal with Universal Music Group recognizes that the Internet is becoming a viable distribution system for the delivery of digital content," said J.D. Heilprin, general manager and publisher of RioPort.com.
"Universal Music Group is the world's largest music company and having access to their content assures RioPort and its network of affiliate sites a tremendous offering of music tracks from leading artists as well as popular catalog content."
Universal Music Group will be integrating content through Rio Search, RioPort's powerful
search engine, allowing consumers to access, purchase and download popular content not
previously available in digital content through the www.rioport.com Web site, as well as affiliate
partner sites.
Additionally, consumers will be able to enjoy this new content in their own environments
without being tied to their PC by using RioPort-compatible players, such as the new
SDMI-compliant Rio portable music players expected to ship later this year.
The RioPort.com site delivers broad access to a vast selection of legitimate digital music and
spoken audio content. In addition to Universal, RioPort is in talks with other major content
providers to secure a range of popular music for its customers.
Currently, consumers can find hundreds of links to digital audio content aggregated from the
best sources on the Internet on the RioPort.com site. Content is intuitively organized
throughout the site, making it quick and easy for fans to find exactly what they are searching
for.
RioPort Inc.
RioPort is redefining digital audio by delivering an integrated platform for acquiring, managing
and experiencing music and spoken audio programming from the Internet. RioPort delivers an
extensive selection of digital music and spoken audio programming through its RioPort.com
digital audio gateway, full content management with its Rio Audio Manager software and
cutting-edge playback solutions with its RioPort compatible players.
Company headquarters are in San Jose, where its business development, engineering and
marketing teams are located. RioPort's artist relations, content aggregation and online creative
team is based in Los Angeles, and its portable player design team is based in Korea.
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is the world's leading music company with wholly owned record
operations or licensees in 59 countries around the world. Its businesses also include Universal
Music Publishing Group, one of the industry's largest global music publishing operations, and
Universal Concerts.
Universal Music Group consists of record labels A&M, Blue Thumb, Decca Record Company,
Def Jam, Deutsche Grammophon, Geffen, GRP, Impulse!, Interscope, Island, MCA, MCA
Nashville, Mercury, Mercury Nashville, Motown, Philips, Polydor, Universal and Verve as well
as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around
the world.
Universal Music Group is a unit of The Seagram Company Ltd., a global entertainment and
spirits and wine company.
About Diamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia is a leader in PC multimedia and Internet connectivity, providing advanced
products that enable desktop computer users to create, access and experience compelling
new media content from their PCs and through the Internet.
Products include the Rio series of Internet audio appliances, the Stealth and Viper(R) series of
video accelerators, the Monster series of 3-D gaming accelerators, the Fire series of
professional graphics accelerators, the Supra(R) series of modems, and the HomeFree line of
home networking products.
Diamond's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol DIMD, and its Web site
address is www.diamondmm.com. The company's Internet digital audio portal site is at
www.rioport.com.
|
