Music Company Novatunes.com Launches

Music Company Novatunes.com Launches

Artists Talk About New Business Model

VENICE, Calif., Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- NovaTunes (novatunes.com), a Venice, California-based Internet label, has opened for business featuring it's unique platform to promote, distribute and sell music in a high-quality digital album format to a worldwide audience of music fans. NovaTunes has created an exciting new and easy way for music fans to discover new artists and buy the music they like. Music icon Graham Nash, who has joined the company's Board of Advisors, thinks the NovaTunes model is the future of the music business.

NovaTunes launches with a carefully selected roster of 50 artists in the singer-songwriter and guitar rock genres. The company has developed a business model that brings together the fan bases for all artists, both "world famous" and "up and coming". Starting in March, NovaTunes will release music from new artists each week. Music fans can listen to full albums of all the artists on NovaTunes and if they like what they hear, purchase music directly from the artist pages. To begin the discovery of new music, NovaTunes gives away two sample albums with a total of 24 songs from 24 artists to each new user of the site.

Frequent purchasers will gain All Access membership, which allows them to download music and pay for it later. Artists receive 70% of music revenue at the moment of purchase thanks to an innovative, transparent accounting system.

The music on NovaTunes is sold in a new digital album format called the "DP" (a "Download Pack" with music tracks, printable artwork and often an iPod ready video). Most of the DPs sell for $7. The music is available in 5 different high quality formats: 192 and 320 kbps AAC/MP3 as well as in WAV-format, all for one low price. NovaTunes downloads are DRM-free and thus playable on any computer, MP3 player or iPod.

"NovaTunes is built on respect for the artist and for the music fan," says founder Hans Veldhuizen. "We strongly believe there are people out there who are willing to support the artists they like and pay for music, provided that it's reasonably priced, easy to download and comes without any annoying restrictions."

NovaTunes will host a free Launch Concert at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood on February 28th. The showcase will feature several artists whose music is available on NovaTunes.

Here's what some of the artists on NovaTunes are saying:

Graham Nash - "NovaTunes has created a gathering place for musicians and fans of music, including a system of payment that is fair for musicians."

Julia Fordham - "I wouldn't go to a label with my new album. I will embrace the new that is coming towards me and that is NovaTunes."

Bob Schneider - "The (NT) website seems to be a cool way for artists to connect to fans."

Chris Seefried of The Low Stars - "Artists have a chance to develop now, they can get their music out on the Internet. Like every business, music is becoming a new business again."

Michael Fitz of Modern Love - "NovaTunes is a new model of how things should work. Artists need to be in control of distribution of their material."

Website: http://www.novatunes.com/

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: NovaTunes

CONTACT: Kymm Britton of 60 Cycle Media, +1-310-656-5900,
britton@60cyclemedia.com, for NovaTunes

Web site:

http://www.novatunes.com/

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