Verizon Wireless and CD Baby Team Up to Deliver Independent Music to Verizon Wireless' V CAST Music Service

Verizon Wireless and CD Baby Team Up to Deliver Independent Music to Verizon Wireless' V CAST Music Service

AUSTIN, Texas and BEDMINSTER, N.J. and PORTLAND, Ore., March 16
/PRNewswire/ -- From SXSW (South by Southwest) today, Verizon Wireless, operator of the nation's most reliable wireless network, and CD Baby, one of the largest distributors of digital music, announced they will offer a wide array of indie music from CD Baby on Verizon Wireless' V CAST Music service. The agreement solidifies the position of Verizon Wireless' V CAST Music as a leader in mobile indie music with the deepest independent music catalog available for download on mobile phones. The V CAST Music catalog features both independent and major label artists in one convenient locale. CD Baby's music catalog is available today to V CAST Music customers.

V CAST Music opens up an entirely new way for Americans to get, manage and listen to their music by bringing together over-the-air full-music downloads with the ability to move music from a digital music collection to the mobile phone. With more than 200 million wireless devices in use in the U.S. today, music is a natural on the prevalent mobile device -- the wireless phone.

"The accessibility and convenience of V CAST Music gives customers a lot of choices and options, allowing them to download a song and have it on their phone," says CD Baby's head of digital distribution, Gray Gannaway. "V CAST Music allows those that have a lot of digital music already purchased on their computer to transfer it to their phones, so they can listen to it on the go. This is revolutionary, to say the least, for both music consumers and the music industry as a whole -- and gives the indie artists we work with another platform on which to bring their music to market."

John Harrobin, vice president of marketing for Verizon Wireless, said, "V CAST Music has made the ability to obtain music easier than ever -- especially when you consider the wide array of indie music V CAST now offers. Customers don't need to plan a trip to a record store or sit in front of their computers to preview and purchase music they want immediately; with the addition of CD Baby artists we are able to further expand the selection of indie music our customers crave."

Verizon Wireless' V CAST Music, which runs on Verizon Wireless' award- winning wireless broadband network, is one of the world's most comprehensive mobile music services. V CAST Music is one of the few full-function mobile music services that lets customers download music over-the-air, onto their Windows(R) XP PCs, and transfer their own digital music from their PCs to their phones.

For music lovers who want immediate gratification, song purchases made from a V CAST Music-capable handset cost $1.99 for a copy sent immediately to the phone and a second sent to the customer's V CAST Music online account for download to a Windows XP PC using Windows Media Player 10. Songs purchased from the PC cost $0.99 and may be transferred to the customer's V CAST Music phone via USB cable. Customers can also purchase entire albums from the Verizon Wireless V CAST Music Store via their Windows XP PCs; prices vary by album.

For over-the-air downloads, customers need a V CAST Music-enabled phone and a subscription to the V CAST VPak added to their Verizon Wireless calling plan, which is $15.00 monthly access. Customers interested in managing their music from their PCs need Windows Media Player 10; a free download of the player is available online in the V CAST Music store.

Customers can visit the V CAST Music store online at http://www.verizonwireless.com/music for more information. V CAST Music is available through Verizon Wireless' 2,000 Communications Stores and Circuit City locations and online at http://www.verizonwireless.com/.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 51.3 million voice and data customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at http://www.verizonwireless.com/. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

About CD Baby

CD Baby provides independent artists an outlet to sell their music online, and handles digital distribution. Founder and musician Derek Sivers was selling his own CD online in 1997, and he eventually asked a few friends if they'd like to sell their CDs there, too. Friends told friends and now over 125,000 artists sell their music through CD Baby. CD Baby has sold over two million CDs to customers worldwide, and paid over $25 million dollars to musicians. CD Baby's Digital Distribution program has deals with all major digital outlets such as Verizon Wireless' V CAST Music, Apple iTunes, MSN Music, Rhapsody, Napster, and Sony Connect, making CD Baby one of the leaders in the aggregation of digital content. For more information visit http://www.cdbaby.com/.

Source: Verizon Wireless

CONTACT: Jeffrey Nelson of Verizon Wireless, +1-908-306-4824,
Jeffrey.Nelson@verizonwireless.com; or Alex Steininger of CD Baby,
+1-503-255-2569, alex@cdbaby.com

Web site: http://www.verizonwireless.com/
http://www.verizonwireless.com/music
http://www.cdbaby.com/

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