Cedar Knolls, NJ and Maynard, Mass.- April 18, 2001 -- MediaBay (NASDAQ:
MBAY) and Digital Goods (NASDAQ: DIGS) today announced a co-marketing
agreement that will push Digital Goods into the spoken audio market for the
first time and will introduce eBooks and other digital text to MediaBay`s
product mix.
Under the agreement, MediaBay, the leading seller of spoken audio and
nostalgia products, including audiobooks and old-time radio shows, through
direct response, retail and Internet channels, will feature its own branded
store for eBooks and other text-based digital content, hosted by Digital
Goods, on its Web site and as part of its multi-platform marketing efforts.
Digital Goods, the leader in digital content marketing, will feature its own
branded store for audio books, magazines and classic radio shows, hosted by
MediaBay, on its Web site and as part of its Amplifi(tm) interactive
marketing initiatives, including affiliate storefronts across the Internet.
In addition, each of the companies will present side-by-side offers for
digital text and spoken audio versions of books and other works that are
available from both companies` catalogs.
"Spoken audio is a natural extension of our digital content marketing
mission. The ability to offer multiple formats of digital works makes our
product offers more attractive to consumers, and that makes Digital Goods a
more valuable marketing resource to our content partners," said Kurt
Dressel, Digital Goods executive vice president of sales and marketing. "We
believe there is great synergy with the extensive audio catalog offered by
MediaBay, and we are pleased to collaborate with a recognized leader in the
field."
"We know from our research that MediaBay`s spoken audio customers are also
avid readers, so adding Digital Goods` eBooks and other text-based digital
content to our product offerings gives consumers more appealing choices that
should translate into an significant new revenue stream for us," said Media
Bay CEO Michael Herrick. "As text, audio and graphics converge to create
exciting new rich media content products in the not-too-distant future, we
see our alliance with Digital Goods as an increasingly powerful marketing
and eCommerce force."
Digital Goods provides its Amplifi(tm) interactive marketing and eCommerce
technology and services to content partners that include major book
publishers and providers of financial, business, career, health, self help
and education content. The company helps sell content through private-label
storefronts built and run for content providers, a network of nearly 2,000
online retail affiliates, contextual offers tied to relevant news and other
content across the Web, and its patented Passalong(tm) secure viral
distribution system.
MediaBay offers its 2 million monthly Web site visitors, 2.1 million email
address database and customer database of 2.5 million an exhaustive catalog
of spoken audio in digital, CD and cassette formats, including audio books
and other content in virtually every fiction and non-fiction genre. Through
its Radio Spirits division, MediaBay also offers more than 60,000 primarily
exclusive old-time radio shows and 3,500 classic videos.
About Digital Goods
Digital Goods (NASDAQ: DIGS) is the leader in digital content marketing.
Amplifi`, the company`s interactive marketing and eCommerce solution, helps
its content partners deliver their products to a maximum audience while
respecting copyrights. Consumers gain instant access to valuable content
wherever and whenever they are ready to buy. Digital Goods is
revolutionizing the way digital content is marketed, sold and distributed
online, while enabling its content and affiliate partners to share in the
commercial benefits of this expanding marketplace. The Digital Goods
marketing network includes hundreds of online affiliates and content
publishers, including industry leaders such as Standard & Poor`s, Simon &
Schuster, Random House, Dun & Bradstreet, WetFeet.com, Borders.com,
iVillage.com, About.com, Infospace and The Money Page. Digital Goods is
based in Maynard, MA. For more information please visit
http://www.digitalgoods.com
About MediaBay, Inc.
MediaBay, Inc. is a leading marketer and seller of spoken audio and
nostalgia products, including audiobooks and old-time radio shows, in hard
goods and digital download formats via direct response, retail and Internet
channels. The Company markets and sells its products to its customer
database of over 2.5 million names, its email address database of over 2.1
million addresses and its more than 2.0 million unique monthly website
visitors. The Company is one of the world`s largest marketers of audiobooks
through its Audio Book Club membership club, which markets and sells tens of
thousands of audiobook titles to its 1.9 million member file through direct
mail and the Internet at www.audiobookclub.com. The Company is also one of
the world`s largest marketers of old-time radio shows and classic videos
through its Radio Spirits subsidiary which markets and sells its content
library of over 60,000 radio shows and 3,500 videos on audio cassette,
compact disc, video cassette and DVD through direct mail to its more than
600,000 catalog customers, in over 4,750 retail outlets, on its nationwide
traditional radio broadcasts and through the Internet at
www.Radiospirits.com. The Company`s media download portal site,
www.MediaBay.com, offers the Company`s millions of customers and website
visitors a single location for premium spoken word content available in
streaming and secure digital download formats. The Company`s RadioClassics
subsidiary has been created to distribute the Company`s old-time radio
programs through additional platforms including satellite radio, satellite
television and digital cable television.
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CONTACTS:
For Digital Goods
Doug Curran
Director, Corp. Communications
(978) 461-4192
dcurran@digitalgoods.com
For MediaBay, Inc.
John Levy
Chief Financial Officer
MediaBay, Inc.
(973) 539-9528
jflevy@mediabay.com
Charles Southworth
Vice President
Rubenstein Investor Relations
(212) 843-8271
csouthworth@rubensteinir.com
Digital Goods Statement
SoftLock is a registered trademark of SoftLock.com, Inc. Digital Goods and
Passalong are trademarks of SoftLock.com, Inc. All other products or company
names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements are subject
to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary
materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.
SoftLock.com, Inc. d/b/a Digital Goods may experience significant
fluctuations in future operating results due to a number of economic,
competitive and other factors, including, among other things, the size and
timing of customer orders, changes in laws, new or increased competition,
delays in new products, production problems, changes in market demand,
market acceptance of new products, seasonality in product purchases and
availability of capital to finance intended expansion of operations. These
factors and others could cause operating results to vary significantly from
those in prior periods, and those projected in forward-looking statements.
Additional information with respect to these and other factors, which could
materially affect the Company and its operations, are included in the
Company`s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are
incorporated herein.
MediaBay Safe Harbor Statement
Safe Harbor Statement Under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995: The statements which are not historical facts contained in this press
release are forward looking statements that involve a number of known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual
results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by such forward looking statements. Such factors include, but are
not limited to, risks relating to the Company`s direct mail campaigns and
the ability to retain Audio Book Club members, risks relating to the
Company`s growth strategy, dependence on third party service providers,
uncertainty of the scope of future product returns, collection and risks
associated with selling products on credit, competition and other risks
detailed in the Company`s Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The
words "believe" and "should" and similar expressions identify
forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the
date the statement, was made.
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