18,000 Subscribers Help Establish MUSICMATCH Radio MX as the Benchmark for Digital Music Subscriptions

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 2001-- Music fans are making MUSICMATCH® Radio MX(TM) their everyday choice for quality music on the Internet.

MUSICMATCH Inc., a recognized leader in providing personalized music software and services and inventor of the world's first digital music jukebox, Monday announced that its MUSICMATCH Radio MX service is proof that customers are willing to pay for high-quality digital music. The new subscription service is now one of the most listened-to Internet radio offerings on the Web, with over 18,000 subscribers since its inception in late May 2001.

"Radio MX provides excellent sound and I enjoy being able to program favorite artists and stations," said Radio MX subscriber Jeffrey Bogart, of La Mesa, Calif. "It introduces casual listeners like myself to unfamiliar artists in a convenient way and I anticipate that the service will only get better with time."

Today, at the Jupiter Media Metrix Plug-In conference in New York, MUSICMATCH is demonstrating its new Radio MX digital music subscription service, the industry's first near music-on-demand service with customizable radio and professionally programmed stations -- all layered with the company's patent-pending personalization technology. Radio MX delivers a variety of ways to enjoy favorite music, and a CD-quality experience with 128-kbps streaming music -- just two reasons why music fans are extremely satisfied(1) with the new service.

P.J. McNealy, senior analyst with Gartner/G2, and a leading analyst tracking trends in the digital music industry, said, "As streaming music subscription models move to CD-quality, consumers are more likely to follow because the listening experience will be closer to what they're familiar with and less of the problematic buffering experience at lower streaming bit rates."

"MUSICMATCH Radio MX has surpassed our expectations for membership in just a short time," said Dennis Mudd, CEO of MUSICMATCH Inc. "It confirms that people are willing to pay for a music service that combines personalized programming with the highest quality audio."

Current and Future Radio MX Promotions

MUSICMATCH Radio MX subscribers are also enjoying added benefits such as free music and promotions from their favorite artists. On July 26 music fans will experience the "Snoop Dog and the Eastsidaz Pic" radio station, a custom station featuring all of the bands' handpicked favorite songs. Also on July 26, music fans can visit the MUSICMATCH Guide(TM) (located within MUSICMATCH Jukebox(TM)) to enter to win a four-day, three-night flyaway to California for a front-row meeting with Nelly and St. Lunatics at their concert, September 23, at the Verizon Amphitheater.

MUSICMATCH at Plug.In

Music fans can see live demonstrations of MUSICMATCH Jukebox and MUSICMATCH Radio MX at the Jupiter Media Metrix Plug-In event on July 23 and 24 at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in New York City. The company will be onsite at booth No. 128 at the conference and will host a party with Plant Music at the Plant Bar Monday night (invitation required). MUSICMATCH CEO Dennis Mudd will participate on the panel "Internet Radio: Programming and Consumer Expectations" Tuesday, July 24 at 3:45 p.m.

About MUSICMATCH Inc.

MUSICMATCH Inc., founded in 1997 and based in San Diego, is a recognized leader in developing personalized music software and services that let people find and listen to the music that best matches their unique tastes. The company invented the digital music jukebox in 1997, and since then has registered more than 20 million users of its MUSICMATCH Jukebox software program and more than 18,000 subscribers to its Radio MX near music-on-demand streaming service. MUSICMATCH is a privately held company with significant investment from Intel Capital, Redpoint Ventures and Thomson Multimedia. For additional information on MUSICMATCH, visit http://www.musicmatch.com.

(1) Eighty-five percent of all MUSICMATCH Radio MX customers are either "satisfied" or "extremely satisfied" with the service.