PHOENIX - SunnComm International, Inc. (OTCBB: SCMI), advances its leadership position in digital content security and enhancement for optical media by announcing today that it has designed technology intended to limit the copying of CDs dispensed from self-service kiosks.
Kiosks are taking the consumer market by storm. It is expected
that the purchase of popular music mixed onto audio CDs could drive more retail
customers to self-service kiosks than any other product sold by the self-service
machines. Industry experts, IHL Consulting Group, reports that $128 billion
was spent by North American consumers in 2003 on all consumer kiosk transactions.
IHL Consulting further projects that continued growth from consumer demand will
approach $1.3 trillion by 2007.
"Self-service kiosks are popping up everywhere, and the deployment of
these systems is expected to grow significantly over the next several years
offering a whole new entertainment venue for consumers," says Bill Whitmore,
president and chief executive officer of QuietTiger, Inc. (OTCBB: QTIG). QuietTiger
is the exclusive sales and marketing arm for SunnComm's technology. He continued,
"The integration of the MediaMax technology within the kiosk systems is
a significant advancement in preventing music from being copied again and again
and again."
Peter Jacobs, CEO of SunnComm International, commented, "The kiosk systems
enable customers to access digital content on the spot and
to create a custom audio CD just like the one found on store
shelves." The MediaMax SecureBurn platform will be utilized to create the
custom album and will inhibit the content from unauthorized duplication while
providing substantial additional marketing opportunities."
The Perfect Placement(TM) banner advertising feature created by SunnComm will
allow retailers to promote themselves directly on the very CD-Rs
they are sending home with music buyers. When inserted into a PC or MAC, interactive
banners appear throughout the user interface. This sales component is an excellent
vehicle for presenting in-store promotions as well as special offers or information.
Since the banners are controlled remotely when an Internet connection is available,
they can be easily changed from time to time.
"With the introduction of On-the-Fly encoding(TM), SunnComm can shift
the process of managing the content on music CDs from the mastering studio,
authoring facilities and CD manufacturing plants right into a kiosk," declared
SunnComm's CTO, Eric Vandewater. "We are basically compressing many man-hours
of mastering, second session authoring, manufacturing and quality control into
a single transaction at a dedicated machine that is completed in minutes instead
of days."
SunnComm's MediaMax suite of products delivers security for digital
CD audio along with an enhanced consumer experience that provides additional
bonus content and value-added features available in a user-friendly multi-media
session that is mastered directly on the audio CD and accessible using a personal
computer. Bonus features include on-board press kits, artist-related promotions,
videos, song lyrics, artist bio page, photo gallery, web links and tune-sharing
capability through SunnComm's MusicMail(TM) functionality. MusicMail or TuneShare
is an interface for the legal authorized sharing of selected song tracks with
friends & family for a pre-determined number of days or plays. CD buyers
can share music legitimately without illegal file sharing networks and without
tying up their email system with huge files. This is a powerful word-of-mouth
marketing tool for the record labels. Metrics associated with forwarded MusicMail
files are available to SunnComm's record label customers on a 24/7/365 basis.
ABOUT SUNNCOMM
SunnComm International Inc. (OTC: SCMI) copy management and protection technology
was first commercially released by Nashville's Music City records in 2001. The
album, "Charley Pride - A Tribute to Jim Reeves," became the first
commercial dual-session, copy-managed CD in America. SunnComm also became the
first company to commercially release a content-protected audio CD utilizing
an early version of the Windows Media Data Session Toolkit. (http://www.microsoft.com/
presspass/press/2003/jan03/01-20SessionToolkitPR.asp) (Due to the length
of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste it into your Internet browser's
URL address field. You may also need to remove an extra space in the URL if
one exists.)
In just four years, SunnComm has become the leader in digital content enhancement
and security technology for audio compact disc media with its MediaMax suite
of products. MediaMax has been successfully implemented on some of today's best
selling music including Velvet Revolver, which reached the #1 spot on Billboard's
Top 200 Album Chart in addition to other gold and platinum best-selling releases.
MediaMax has been used by 25 record labels on more than 60 commercial releases
generating over 6,000,000 copy managed CDs.
SunnComm's MediaMax suite of digital content enhancement technologies are created
by integrating the Company's own proprietary technology with the Microsoft (NASDAQ:
MSFT - News) Windows Media 9 Series media player, but still operates on both
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL - News) and Microsoft Windows-based systems. For more detailed
information about the company, its vision or philosophy, personnel, partners,
and customers, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.sunncomm.com,
or call the Company directly at (602) 267-7500.
