Multimedia News Release - Cingular Announces Innovative Music Program That Debuts New Singles on Wireless Phones Before They are Heard Anywhere Else

Multimedia News Release - Cingular Announces Innovative Music Program That Debuts New Singles on Wireless Phones Before They are Heard Anywhere Else

'Cingular Sounds' gives its customers a whole new way to enjoy music and the entertainment industry a powerful channel to reach tens of millions of potential listeners

Coldplay's 'Speed of Sound' will debut as a Cingular ringtone

ATLANTA, April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless today announced Cingular Sounds (TM), an innovative music program that launches new singles as ringtones on wireless phones either before they are heard anywhere else, or simultaneous with their debut on radio. This will give Cingular customers a whole new way to enjoy music and the entertainment industry a powerful channel to reach tens of millions of potential listeners.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050412/NYTU071 )

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/cingular/21599

The company will kick off "Cingular Sounds" with an exclusive 30-second ringtone from Coldplay's "Speed of Sound," the lead single from the band's forthcoming album, X&Y, which will be released by Capitol Records on June 7.

Other artists spanning a broad section of musical styles -- alternative/rock, hip-hop/R&B, pop, Latin, country, and more -- will become part of Cingular Sounds in the coming weeks and months. The program will include exclusive ringtone debuts and offer weekly text message updates from a wide range of participating artists.

"Wireless plays such a vital role in our everyday lives. What better place to introduce music that has never been heard before than on our phones that we carry with us every day," said Marc Lefar, Cingular's chief marketing officer. "Cingular Sounds gives Cingular customers -- America's largest calling community -- a great new reason to use and enjoy their wireless phones."

"Just as important, Cingular Sounds gives music companies and artists a powerful and profitable channel to reach tens of millions of potential listeners with their music," Lefar said. "The demand for ringtones and other mobile downloads has been growing exponentially, and we are confident that Cingular Sounds will accelerate that growth. That represents an exciting opportunity for the music industry."

"We are always looking for new and innovative ways to deliver music to fans," said Capitol Records President/CEO Andrew Slater. "Cingular Sounds is a great vehicle for helping fans to make an immediate connection with an artist."

"Music fans are more into technology than ever before," said Coldplay Manager Dave Holmes. "Releasing 'Speed of Sound' as a ringtone helps us build excitement for the release of X&Y."

"New digital channels and changing consumer behaviors mean new opportunities for music labels, artists and wireless carriers alike," said Roger Entner, Vice President, Wireless Telecom, Ovum. "The demand for music ringtones, phone personalization and other mobile downloads has been phenomenal. We expect this trend to continue with music ringtone sales and more than triple in the next 5 years."

Coldplay's "Speed of Sound" and thousands of other music ringtones are available now to current Cingular customers. There are three easy ways to download "Speed of Sound" including:

* Go to http://www.cingular.com/mediamall
* Go to http://www.rucingular.com/cingularsounds
* Order directly from your phone

To download this ringtone from a phone (or future 'Cingular Sounds' ringtones), the consumer should:

* Go to Media Net home on their phone
* Select "Tones, Games, Pics"
* Select Cingular Sounds
* Follow the onscreen prompt to get the ringtone

After downloading the ringtone, "Speed of Sound" will be launched from the phone's Main Menu.

In March 2004, Cingular announced being the first company to provide authentic music content from all major record labels. To date, these relationships include: EMI Music (Capitol Records' parent company), SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, Universal Music Group and Warner Music.

"Cingular is in a unique position to work directly with the music industry's top labels and nation's hottest performers to extend their reach to an increasingly mobile fan base," said John Burbank, vice president of marketing, Cingular Wireless. "We want our customers to know we share their interest in music, that's why Cingular is committed to offering the very latest in music from the artists our fans know and love."

Cingular customers are charged a one-time download fee of $1.99 - $2.49 for ringtones, plus a charge for the number of kilobytes or minutes used to download the ringtone to a wireless phone. Additional information on music ringtones is available at http://www.cingular.com/ or http://www.rucingular.com/.

About Cingular Wireless

Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving more than 50 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth (NYSE:BLS), has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(SM), the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com/.

About Coldplay

Coldplay's new album, X&Y, will be released by Capitol Records on June 7. The luminous follow up to the band's Grammy-winning, triple Platinum 2002 release A Rush Of Blood To The Head, X&Y was produced by Coldplay, Danton Supple and Ken Nelson. Their double Platinum 2000 debut, Parachutes, featured the international hit singles "Yellow" and "Trouble" and received a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.

With 2002's A Rush Of Blood To The Head, Coldplay became the only band to win the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album for two consecutive years. (They also won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for the single "In My Place.") The album entered the Billboard Top 200 at #5, was named by the New York Times as "one of the year's best albums," received four star reviews from Rolling Stone and Blender and landed Coldplay on the cover of Spin as 2003's "Band of the Year." The single "Clocks" was released in 2003, bringing Coldplay its fourth Grammy -- this time in the prestigious Record of the Year category. To date, Coldplay has sold over 20 million albums worldwide.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050412/NYTU071
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN4
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.comVideo: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/cingular/21599
Source: Cingular Wireless

CONTACT: Jennifer Bowcock, Cingular Wireless, +1-404-236-6319,
jennifer.bowcock@cingular.com

Web site: http://www.cingular.com/
http://www.rucingular.com/
http://www.cingular.com/mediamall
http://www.rucingular.com/cingularsounds

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