MusicNet and La Curacao Create Hispanic Digital Music Service

MusicNet and La Curacao Create Hispanic Digital Music Service

NEW YORK, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- MusicNet, the music unit of the leading digital entertainment services provider MediaNet Digital, announced today a partnership with La Curacao, a leading Hispanic mega retailer in the U.S. The two companies are partnering to create the first ever full-featured Hispanic focused digital music service. The new service, to launch by the end of the year, will be called Pasito Tunes.

Using MusicNet's sophisticated genre classification system, Pasito Tunes will offer a Hispanic based fully customized digital music subscription service and download store, along with the ability to access users' music collections both on PCs and portable devices. Users will have access to a bi- lingual online music destination with catalog from Latino music genres including Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia, Tex-Mex, Reggaeton, Bachata, Rancheras, Baladas, Spanish pop music and more. They will also be able to access all genres of music that MusicNet provides, as well as music videos.

While MusicNet is powering Pasito Tunes, providing the underlying technology and audio and video content, La Curacao will leverage its highly recognizable brand and customer loyalty programs to connect with their Hispanic customer base. With more than 9 million visitors annually to the La Curacao stores, Pasito Tunes will offer the purchase of subscriptions and a la carte downloads both online at Pasito.com/tunes and off-line at La Curacao's retail locations later this year. The online product will be an extension of the in-store experience catering to the Hispanic market and providing for unique co-brand opportunities.

La Curacao is revamping its portal, Pasito.com that will feature a wide array of products and services including Pasito Tunes music service. Pasito.com will be supported by a specially created retail sales channel with dedicated staff and Internet Pavilions in-store for customers to interact and subscribe to the Pasito Tunes service.

Alan McGlade, President and CEO of MediaNet Digital, commented: "The digital music marketplace is ripe for building niche music environments to serve a specific musical taste and culture. MusicNet's platform was specifically built to support music classification by genre and provide unique customization features to develop a themed digital music service. Pasito Tunes is a winning collaboration with La Curacao's highly regarded brand and customer relationships and MusicNet's ability to create a Hispanic music environment to serve their loyal patrons online."

Reuven Hayun, Business Development, La Curacao said: "La Curacao has a unique relationship with its customers. True to our slogan 'Un Poco De Su Pais' -- A Little of Your Country, we have sought to provide a pleasurable, comfortable and familiar in-store atmosphere. Music has always been rooted in the vibrant Hispanic culture and La Curacao shopping experience. As our customers shop they are entertained by live performances of authentic Latino music. The partnership with digital music pioneer MusicNet enables us to provide our customers with a customized, culturally-rich music experience online. Pasito Tunes will be a high quality extension of the unique in-store music experience La Curacao is synonymous with."

Recently MusicNet unveiled its re-branding and name change to MediaNet Digital, reflecting expanded content offerings such as music videos, television and feature film. MusicNet will continue to be the repository of the company's digital music service initiatives. MusicNet provides the back- end technology and content, including a catalog of 4.5 million audio tracks and thousands of music videos, to top digital music services.

About MediaNet Digital

MediaNet Digital is the world's leading provider of business-to-business digital entertainment services. The Company offers the content and white- label technologies used to create music and video download and subscription services for world-class consumer brands. MediaNet is wholly-owned by Baker Capital, a New York-based private equity firm with $1.5 billion under management. MediaNet was the 2006 winner of Deloitte & Touche USA's prestigious Deloitte New York Technology Fast 50 Award. MediaNet is headquartered in New York and has offices in Seattle and London. For more information about MediaNet, please visit www.medianetdigital.com.

About La Curacao

La Curacao is best known as a growing chain of large format department stores of 100,000 square feet each. With a Hispanic focus and in-house finance department, La Curacao ranks among the top 50 consumer electronics retailers in the U.S., larger than many nationwide companies whose stores number in the thousands. This feat is made possible by La Curacao's full-service consumer approach and its unique credit scoring system enabling more than one million private-label cardholders with a line of credit in its locations. La Curacao is headquartered in Los Angeles with retail locations in California, Arizona and soon Nevada. For more information, please visit www.lacuracao.net.

Source: MusicNet

CONTACT: Ann Garrett of MusicNet, +1-818-501-8499,
anngarrett@earthlink.net; or Reuven Hayun of La Curacao, +1-213-427-2673,
reuven@lacuracao.com

Web site:

http://www.musicnet.com/
http://www.medianetdigital.com/
http://www.lacuracao.net/
http://www.pasito.com/

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