REDMOND, Wash., and LOS ANGELES, July 17, 2000 — EMI Recorded Music and Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of over 100 full-length albums and singles from EMI's catalog in the Microsoft^® Windows Media™ Format -- the largest single release of digital music on the Web by a music company. The move by EMI coincides with the launch of the new Windows Media Player 7, available for download beginning midnight tonight at WindowsMedia.com ( http://WindowsMedia.com/ ). The release by EMI marks the most significant step by a music company to bring mainstream music from multiple genres to consumers over the Internet.

"Digital Delivery offers a tremendous opportunity for artists, music fans and retailers, and EMI is committed to being a leader in making high quality, secure digital downloads available to consumers," said Jay Samit, senior vice president, New Media, EMI Recorded Music. "Windows Media is a great format for releasing music today and one that allows us to embrace digital music sales over the Internet."

Digital Music for Every Listener

This addition of over 90 hours of content for secure digital download represents the works of over 80 different artists with styles including rock, hip-hop, pop, jazz and contemporary Christian. The available artists include the following:

"EMI is demonstrating its leadership in taking full advantage of the promise of digital media to reach music fans all over the world," said Will Poole, vice president of the Digital Media Division at Microsoft. "This is an industry-changing move that clearly shows that Windows Media Technology is making mainstream digital music a reality today."

The downloads will be sold online through major retailers beginning July 18 at suggested prices comparable to those of traditional retail sales. The EMI albums and tracks will be featured at http://WindowsMedia.com/ . The downloads also are highlighted as part of the integrated Media Guide in the new Windows Media Player 7. For the next six weeks, to mark the launch of Windows Media Player 7, music fans can enjoy a 30-second preview of many tracks.

About EMI Recorded Music

EMI Recorded Music, the third-largest music company in the world, is an international music company with presence in nearly 70 countries. EMI Recorded Music includes important local and international artists, including some of the biggest names in the recorded music industry. EMI has artists in every leading music genre, including pop, rock, jazz, classical, Latin, Christian, country, rap/urban and dance. The world-famous labels include Capitol, Angel, Blue Note, EMI, Priority and Virgin. Its current roster includes approximately 1,500 artists, and it releases over 1,000 albums each year.

About Windows Media

Windows Media is the leading digital media platform, providing unmatched audio and video quality to consumers, content providers, solution providers, software developers and corporations. Windows Media offers the industry's only integrated rights-management solution and the most scalable and reliable streaming technology tested by independent labs. Windows Media Technologies includes Windows Media Player for consumers, Windows Media Services for servers, Windows Media Tools for content creation, and the Windows Media Software Development Kit (SDK) for software developers. Windows Media Player, available in 24 languages, is the fastest-growing media player. More information about Windows Media can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/ .

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" ) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software -- any time, any place and on any device.

Microsoft and Windows Media are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

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