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MakeMusic!(R) Inc.
(Nasdaq: MMUS), a world leader in music education technology, announced today
the availability of SmartMusic Studio(R) 8.2, the latest version of the
company's award-winning interactive music practice system, with support for
Macintosh(R) OS X. SmartMusic Studio 8.2 is now available to students and
music educators through school sponsorship and home subscription offers at the
newly updated SmartMusic website ( http://www.smartmusic.com ).
SmartMusic is acclaimed for its patented Intelligent Accompaniment(R)
feature that listens to musicians perform through a microphone attached to a
computer and then follows their spontaneous tempo changes just as a skilled
human accompanist would. SmartMusic is supported by leading educators and
artists including Wynton Marsalis, Dawn Upshaw and Sir James Galway. Students
using SmartMusic can perform music and then immediately listen to how they
sound via a CD-quality recording that can be e-mailed to parents and teachers
or saved to disk as a permanent performance portfolio. With some method books,
students' performances are assessed onscreen with colored notes showing them
what they did wrong and how to do it right. Student scores can be e-mailed
automatically to their teachers.
SmartMusic Studio 8.2 introduces support for Macintosh OS X. Among the
more than thirty new accompaniments now made available, there are new contest
titles for high school and college band students, including Schubert's
"Introduction & Variations" for Flute, Clarinet Concerto #3 by Stamitz and the
Concerto #2 for Trombone by Blazhevich. SmartMusic Studio 8.2 also features
enhanced recording options including the ability to save as a compressed MP3
file.
"We have documented SmartMusic's ability to help even the youngest of
students build skills, gain confidence and develop their musicianship more
quickly," stated John Paulson, president of MakeMusic!. "With this new
release we offer Macintosh OS X users the same benefits currently enjoyed by
Windows and Macintosh OS 9 users."
As a free service included in the value of their subscription, existing
SmartMusic subscribers can request SmartMusic Studio 8.2, including the full
and expanded repertoire, on an easy-to-install CD-ROM. To support the launch
of the of the new software release, MakeMusic! has mailed a new 16-page
SmartMusic brochure to its current subscciber base of more than 2,000 schools
and to more than 30,000 targeted music educators nationwide.
Updated SmartMusic Website, Subscriptions Growing
The updated SmartMusic website features SmartMusic subscription offers,
enhanced features and navigation, and an easier-to-use subscription activation
process. Annual home subscriptions may be purchased for $90 per year, a 25
percent savings off the standard $9.95 monthly subscription. Subscribing
schools can now offer students annual home subscriptions for only $20 per
student when sponsoring a minimum of only 10 students.
"Music educators requested a way to make SmartMusic available at home and
in private teaching settings, as well as in the classroom for their entire
bands, orchestras or choirs, and we responded," said Sean Lafleur, chief
executive officer of MakeMusic. "Our cost-effective SmartMusic subscriptions
for schools, private teachers and musicians playing at home are being met with
enthusiastic demand and customer satisfaction from educators and students
alike. Through the growing support and sponsorship of SmartMusic by music
educators, there are now 20,000 subscribers overall to SmartMusic."
The SmartMusic 8.2 Subscription Starter Kit will soon be available through
select retailers. This packaged version of SmartMusic contains instrumental
and vocal headset microphones and a one-year prepaid subscription for one
computer. Additional subscriptions can be acquired at http://www.smartmusic.com .
Additional website highlights include a demonstration by Wynton Marsalis
of the features and benefits of SmartMusic in a series of video clips and an
animated demo for beginning band students.
About MakeMusic! Inc.
MakeMusic!(R) Inc. is a world leader in music education technology whose
mission is to enhance and transform the experience of making, teaching and
learning music. Among its leading products are Finale(R), the world's best-
selling music notation software, and SmartMusic(R), the complete music
practice system that features Intelligent Accompaniment(R) and the world's
largest interactive accompaniment library. MakeMusic! maintains its corporate
headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company can be reached at
http://www.makemusic.com .
