Diamond Multimedia and Liquid Audio Join Forces to Address the Internet Music Market
Business Wire - November 02, 1998 09:18
Webnoize 98
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 2, 1998--
Companies Committed to Exploring Most Popular Internet Encoding Formats and Leveraging Current and Future Technologies
Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc., (Nasdaq:DIMD), a leader in interactive multimedia and PC entertainment, and Liquid Audio, the leading developer of secure online music delivery systems, today announced at the WebNoize Conference in Los Angeles, a partnership arrangement under which the two companies will work cooperatively in leveraging the technology and expertise of both Diamond Multimedia and Liquid Audio in support of bringing secure downloadable music from the Internet to the masses.
Both companies have entered into a non-disclosure agreement and have begun investigative work on incorporating support for Liquid Audio's secure downloading system into Diamond Multimedia's line of portable music players.
According to Jupiter Communications' Music Industry and the Internet Report, published in July 1998, "Online sales of CDs and tapes, together with the direct online distribution of music, will be the next great boon for the music industry."
"Our goal is to take advantage of this growth opportunity and support the most popular Internet encoding formats by bringing portability to the Internet audio market," said Ken Comstock, general manager of the audio business unit at Diamond Multimedia.
"Liquid Audio has taken a leadership position in the development of digital distribution technology and has supplied their technology to a number of music content providers. It makes sense for Diamond and Liquid Audio to work together on incorporating Liquid Audio support into our Rio product line."
"Liquid Audio provides a secure environment for music from a number of well-known labels such as Geffen Records and Interscope, who have recently used Liquid Audio's technology to promote major artists, including Hole and Marilyn Manson, and this is a market in which Diamond intends to participate," said Ken Wirt, vice president of corporate marketing at Diamond Multimedia.
"Our goal is to provide the tools and infrastructure needed to facilitate the secure distribution of digital music and we're open to supporting the best possible secure devices available. We believe Diamond Multimedia will be very successful in marketing and distributing their digital music players," said Gerry Kearby, founder and CEO of Liquid Audio.
"The momentum behind Diamond Multimedia's Rio demonstrates to us that there's a large market potential for portable digital music players, which will play a significant role in consumers using the Internet as a primary means of sampling and purchasing music.
"Diamond is recognized in the market for enabling the PC as a true entertainment platform and music delivery from the PC will become a standard feature in the near future as broadband connections to the home become increasingly common."
Diamond Multimedia's Rio PMP300
The new Rio PMP300 is a portable, lightweight digital music player for mixing and storing up to sixty minutes of digital quality music and up to eight hours of voice quality audio downloaded from the Internet to a PC. The device currently supports MP3 and features a simple interface for easily transferring files to Rio from the PC.
The Rio PMP300 is smaller than an audio cassette and has no moving parts so it won't skip, even during extreme movement. It is powered by a single AA alkaline battery for up to 12 hours of continuous playback. Add-on flash memory upgrade cards will also be available in half-hour and one-hour configurations.
Rio PMP300 will begin shipping in November through E-commerce sites and select retail outlets for an estimated retail price of $199.95. The flash memory upgrade cards will be available for an estimated retail price of $49.95 (1/2 hour configuration) and $99.95 (1 hour configuration) through Diamond Multimedia's online store at www.diamondmm.com/onlinestore.
Rio will also be available through Diamond's online store and through E-Commerce sites such as Goodnoise Corp., MP3.com, MusicMatch, Comp USA Direct, Barnes & Noble College Bookstores and through Best Buy, Electronics Boutique, Babbages, and Fry's Electronics.
About Diamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia is driving the interactive multimedia market by providing advanced solutions for home, business and professional desktop computer users, enabling them to create, access and experience compelling new media content from their desktops and through the Internet. Diamond accelerates multimedia from the Internet to the user with products that include the Stealth and Viper(R) series of media accelerators, the Monster series of entertainment 3D and sound accelerators, the Fire series of professional 3D accelerators, the Micronics series of system boards, the Supra(R) series of modems, and the HomeFree line of home networking products. Diamond's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol DIMD, and its Web site address is www.diamondmm.com.
About Liquid Audio
Redwood City, Calif.-based Liquid Audio is the first Internet company focusing exclusively on the need of the music industry, providing labels and artists with software tools and technologies to enable the secure online distribution of professional-quality music titles.
Liquid Audio's technology allows consumers to preview and purchase CD-quality music over the Internet, while ensuring copyright protection and tracking royalties. Formed by veterans of the music industry and professional recording engineers and funded by leading software venture-capital firm Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Liquid Audio is leading the convergence of music and technology to establish the Internet as a new medium for music publishing.
How to Contact Diamond Multimedia
There are many ways to reach Diamond for sales support, technical assistance, driver updates and general information:
Internet Web Site: diamondmm.com
Diamond Multimedia's Headquarters and Multimedia Division:
408-325-7000; Fax: 408-325-7070
Systems Business Unit (Micronics brand system boards) Main Phone
Number: 510-651-2300
Communications Division (Supra brand modems) Main Phone Number:
360-604-1400; Fax: 360-604-1401
European Division (Germany): +49-8151-266-0; (UK): +44-1189-444400;
(France) +33-1-55381600
Korean Office (Seoul): +82-2-551-2700; Fax: +82-2-551-2710
Japanese Office (Tokyo): +81-3-5695-8401; Fax: +81-3-5695-8403
ASEAN Office (Singapore): +65-353-9511; Fax: +65-353-9510
Hong Kong Office: +852-2375-9023; Fax: +852-2375-9021
Australian Office (Sydney): +61-2-9460-2355; Fax +61-2-9460-2360
Swedish Office: +46-417-40060; Fax +46-417-40054
Product Support (Voice), United States: 541-967-2450;
Europe (Germany) +49-8151-266-330; Europe (UK) +44-1189-444444;
Europe (France) +33-1-55381616; TDD/TTY Support 541-967-2451
Product Support (Fax), United States: 541-967-2401; Europe (Germany)
+49-8151-266-331; Europe (UK): +44-1189-444445; (France)
+33-1-55381601
Pre-sales Information: 1-800-468-5846
24-Hour Fax-On-Demand Service: 1-800-380-0030
Investor Relations: 408-325-7476; 1-888-474-3463 (U.S. and Canada)
FTP site: ftp.diamondmm.com
BBS: 541-967-2444 (to 33.6 Kbps); Europe (Germany) BBS at
+49-8151-266333 (to 28.8 Kbps) or +49-8151-266334 (ISDN);
Europe (UK) at +44-1189-444415 (to 33.6 Kbps)
Note to Editors: Monster 3D, Supra and HomeFree are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. Monster(R) is a registered trademark of Monster Cable. Viper(R) is a registered trademark of Directed Electronics, Inc., Used under License. All other trademarks referenced are the service mark, trademark or registered trademark of their respective manufacturers. This announcement relates to products whose introductions are in North America. The product name, contents, prices and availability may differ elsewhere in the world according to local factors and requirements.
Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set fo
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