Sonic Foundry and Microsoft Provide First Music Jukebox Based Solely on Windows Media Audio

Sonic Foundry, Inc. (Nasdaq: SOFO) and Microsoft Corp. today announced they will provide the first music jukebox software based exclusively on Microsoft[R] Windows Media[TM] Audio (WMA). Now available as a beta for download at the Sonic Foundry Web site, Sonic Foundry SIREN[TM] is an innovative music jukebox that takes full advantage of the superior digital audio compression capabilities offered by Microsoft WMA technology.

SIREN is a comprehensive digital music management system that allows PC users to locate and download digital music from the Internet, record music from their personal CD collection to their PC hard drive, and manage the music in multiple playlist arrangements on their PC. In addition, SIREN provides seamless transfer to portable digital players and traditional CD players. Built on the powerful code base of Sonic Foundry's audio CD recording product, CD Architect[TM], SIREN features integrated audio CD recording, allowing users to create custom compilations of their favorite hits and "burn" them to CDs from within the application.

"We are excited to be working closely with Microsoft to bring this solution to market, positioning us to be key players in driving digital music into the mainstream," said Curtis Palmer, Chief Technology Officer of Sonic Foundry. "SIREN is a powerful yet easy-to-use digital music solution that allows the consumer to record music in a highly compressed format for use with a wide variety of peripheral playback devices. By utilizing the recent technology advances offered with WMA, SIREN provides superior audio quality and faster compression than alternative technologies."

Will Poole, General Manager, Marketing and Business Development, Streaming Media Division, Microsoft, said, "Sonic Foundry is an established developer of professional-quality music software. The fact that its new jukebox, SIREN, supports WMA attests to the high quality and functionality of the format. SIREN further helps establish WMA as the format of choice for Sonic Foundry's broad base of professional and consumer users."

Microsoft Windows Media Audio is part of Windows Media Technologies 4.0, the umbrella name for the products, components, and services from Microsoft designed to make the Windows[R] operating system a powerful platform for developing and deploying rich multimedia. WMA offers exceptional audio quality and features files that are half the size of standard MP3 tracks and that download twice as fast.

About Windows Media Technologies

Windows Media Technologies is the leading digital media platform, providing consumers, content providers, solution providers, software developers, and corporations with unmatched audio and video quality. Windows Media Technologies 4.0, which includes Windows Media Player, Windows Media Services, Windows Media Tools, and Windows Media Audio SDK, is available for free download at www.microsoft.com. Over 40 million copies—growing by more than one every second—of the free Windows Media Player have been downloaded to date.

WindowsMedia.com, part of the MSN[TM] network of Internet services, is the fastest-growing major audio and video guide on the Internet. WindowsMedia.com provides access to localized audio and video content users worldwide, including over 600 radio stations and major music and video events from more than 1,000 content providers.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

Microsoft, Windows Media, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

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