Sony Music Becomes First Music Major To Provide Gracenote Lyrics Service Across Label Groups And Artist Websites

Britney Spears, Ciara, John Legend, Kelly Clarkson And Michael Jackson Among First Official Artist Websites To Launch New Features

NEW YORK, /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Music Entertainment (SME) today announced a new initiative to add robust on-demand audio streaming and song lyrics features across its network of artist websites. Fans will now be able to listen to tracks from the catalog of many of their favorite artists, create multiple personalized playlists, and follow along with the words to songs.

Sony Music's websites will encourage a deeper connection between the fan and artist by featuring on-demand audio players that will make it possible for fans to explore and discover both current hits and previous releases. To add to the experience, the sites will also include lyrics licensed by Gracenote, which offers the world's largest catalog of complete, accurate and licensed song lyrics. Sony Music's agreement with Gracenote spans all of its label groups in the U.S. and Canada and establishes it as the first music major to broadly offer song lyrics on its artist websites. The roll out will begin in early summer.

The new lyrics service, which complements current features like music videos, artist photos, song recommendations, buy links and customizable playlists, further enhances Sony Music's websites as go-to destinations for fans to connect with the artists they love. Sony Music's web network already draws more than 18,000,000 visitors from around the world each month.

"We think fans are going to love the new Sony Music audio players and song lyrics feature," commented Thomas Hesse, President, Global Digital Business, U.S. Sales, Corporate Strategy, Sony Music Entertainment. "These compelling additions represent our ongoing commitment to creating the most interactive and authoritative official artist pages online."

"Song lyrics are extremely important to music fans and are among the most searched topics on the Web, so they're a natural fit for Sony Music's fan-focused websites," commented Craig Palmer, President, Gracenote. "Following the lyrics of your favorite song while you're listening to it or while you're watching the video is an exciting way to experience music."

The introduction of the audio players builds on Sony Music Entertainment's 2006 launch of the MyPlay-branded platform, which includes online video players that are deployed across Sony Music's web network. There is also a comprehensive Sony Music MyPlay video portal at http://myplay.com/.

Official Kelly Clarkson Music Website (http://www.kellyofficial.com/)

Official John Legend Music Website (http://www.johnlegend.com/)

Official Ciara Music Website (http://www.ciaraworld.com/)

Official Britney Spears Music Website (http://www.britney.com/)

Official Michael Jackson Music Website (http://www.michaeljackson.com/)

About Sony Music Entertainment

Sony Music Entertainment is a global recorded music company with a roster of current artists that includes a broad array of both local artists and international superstars. The company boasts a vast catalog that comprises some of the most important recordings in history.

About Gracenote

Gracenote, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, is a global leader in embedded technology, enriched content, and data services for digital entertainment solutions within the Internet, consumer electronics, mobile, and automotive markets. Formerly known as CDDB(R), Gracenote delivers a substantially improved consumer experience in digital media devices and applications, plus media monitoring and other data services to the recording industry, making it an integral part of the digital media economy. Gracenote powers leading services including Apple iTunes, Yahoo! Music Jukebox, Winamp; home and automotive products from Alpine, Panasonic, Philips and Sony; and mobile music applications from Samsung, Sony Ericsson, KDDI (Japan), KTF (Korea), Musiwave (Europe), and others. Gracenote is headquartered in Emeryville, California. www.gracenote.com/corporate.

Gracenote and CDDB are registered trademarks of Gracenote, Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.