The Orchard's Peerless International Offering Helps to Launch Australian Music at iTunes and Other Music Services

The Orchard's Peerless International Offering Helps to Launch Australian Music at iTunes and Other Music Services

Australian Artists Represented By The Orchard Comprise 20% of iTunes' Latest 'Music of the World' Series

Special Australian Promotions Also Underway with Dozens of Other Digital Music Stores

NEW YORK, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The Orchard continues its support of iTunes' "Music of the World" series by merchandising the hottest contemporary music of Australia in this week's iTunes Australia offering. After successfully launching a diverse roster of Chinese artists on iTunes last week and powering 80% of the content for the offering, The Orchard today launched a highly-anticipated promotional campaign for Australian artists, which comprise 20% of iTunes' "Music of the World" series this week. This comes as iTunes formally launches its music service in Australia, which is catalyzing the birth of the digital music industry there, as iTunes launches have done in each new country they enter. The Orchard, which distributes the world's largest and most diverse catalogue of digital music, is widely regarded as the pioneering expert in digital music marketing, merchandising and promotion and is a leading global tastemaker, making new and undiscovered music available to audiences across the world

In tandem with its Melbourne-based partner, AmpHead Entertainment Group, The Orchard digitally distributes and markets a large and diverse roster of Australian artists. Those featured this week in the iTunes' promotion range from pop, rock and metal to folk, alternative and punk, and include:

* The Waifs: This alternative/folk trio has toured throughout the US; its
2003 release Up All Night was certified Gold in less than one month and
has since achieved Double-Platinum status.

* Black Cab: The duo composed of ex-Foil lead singer Andrew Coates and
guitarist James Lee, was recently praised in Rolling Stone for Altamont
Diary, an inspired tribute to the Rolling Stones' free 1969 concert at
the Altamont Speedway.

* Killing Heidi: This double platinum selling brother-sister duo dominated
the Australian charts.

Other featured artists include one of Australia's best known independent bands Even, and the multi-Australian Record Industry Award-winning pop group The Whitlams. Independent label releases from these artists are merchandised beside major label Aussie mainstays such as INXS, Kylie Minogue, Midnight Oil, and Olivia Newton-John.

The Orchard's Australian catalogue will also be sold across its network of 125 of the world's leading digital music stores globally, including eMusic, Yahoo!/Musicmatch, Real/Rhapsody, Napster, and MSN, with similar marketing campaigns presently in development. In addition, The Orchard will supply the content through its distribution partnerships with the leading mobile companies around the world, the largest mobile network of any distributor, spanning over 200 global services including Sprint, Dwango Wireless, Zingy, 9 Squared, IAM Mobile, Arvato Mobile and Hudson Soft.

"The Orchard's support of Australia's leading artists and labels reinforces our commitment to opening new markets for artists and enabling the free flow of music across borders, oceans, and cultures," said Greg Scholl, chief executive of The Orchard and managing director of Dimensional Associates, the company that owns The Orchard, eMusic and Dimensional Music Publishing. "To build new audiences and ensure people everywhere are aware of and have access to the music of their cultural heritage, we've built a peerless digital marketing and merchandising capability. Coupled with local offices, staff, and exclusive business partners in literally every global music territory, we feel it's an unbeatable combination for digital retailers and their customers."

Gary Mackenzie, the head of AmpHead, welcomes the opportunity to introduce new audiences to Australian music by way of iTunes, the industry leader in legal digital music distribution. "At a time when many music-listeners are looking for cutting-edge artists, the Internet has afforded online music outlets the luxury of being able to provide such content without the traditional barriers of entry," said Mackenzie.

The Orchard and AmpHead continue to work together to license new content from Australia and the surrounding region-including Cook Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Pitcairn Island, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and West Samoa-and market and promote it abroad. In addition, AmpHead will continue to distribute and market The Orchard's catalogue in download and mobile services in Australia.

About The Orchard

The Orchard (www.theorchard.com) is the leading distributor and marketer of independent music in the world, representing thousands of labels spanning 73 countries and every music genre. The Orchard supplies its catalogue of more than 650,000 tracks to all of the leading legal digital music retailers and mobile operators throughout the world. The company is headquartered in New York and London, with operations in Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, Toronto, Kolkata, Johannesburg, Moscow and Melbourne, and local representatives in Paris, Milan, Barcelona, and Ramallah.

About Dimensional Associates, Inc.

Dimensional Associates, Inc. is the New York-based private equity arm of JDS Capital Management, Inc. Its portfolio companies include eMusic, The Orchard and Dimensional Music Publishing (formerly DreamWorks Music Publishing).

About AmpHead

Based in Victoria, Australia, AmpHead Entertainment Group is The Orchard's exclusive content aggregation and digital distribution partner for the Australian region. AmpHead's team encompasses professionals with deep expertise in management, media, performance and song writing, record labels, publicity and licensing.

Media Contact:
Andy Morris
The Morris + King Company
andy.morris@morris-king.com

Source: The Orchard

CONTACT: Andy Morris of The Morris + King Company,
andy.morris@morris-king.com

Web site: http://www.theorchard.com/

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