Sonic Foundry Announces OEM Agreement with Packard Bell NEC

Sonic Foundry, Inc. (Nasdaq: SOFO) today announced a marketing alliance with Packard Bell NEC's Consumer Division which provides for new NEC Home Music Studio PCs to feature customized versions of Sonic Foundry SIREN[TM] and ACID[TM] software. The preinstalled jukebox and music creation software provide the NEC Home Music Studio computer user with CD burning capabilities and support for the Diamond Rio digital playback device. These select NEC brand desktops incorporating Sonic Foundry's software are available in retail stores now. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"This important OEM agreement exemplifies the growing interest in digital music with systems designed as recording studios, as well as the continued endorsement by leading PC hardware manufacturers of our recently introduced music jukebox software," said Monty R. Schmidt, President of Sonic Foundry. "The alliance builds momentum for SIREN as consumers are provided with a PC already equipped with jukebox software for managing and recording music, as well as a media authoring tool for creating music."
"Bundling SIREN and ACID with these feature-rich NEC brand personal computers gives consumers a comprehensive pre-packaged music studio solution to download, copy, manage, and create music files," said Jack Yovanovich, Director of Product Marketing, Packard Bell NEC Consumer Division. "We are excited to equip our customers with the tools necessary to take advantage of today's digitized music technology, fully maximizing their home computing experience."
SIREN is a complete 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 PCs. Utilizing Microsoft[R] Windows Media[TM] Audio (WMA)'s digital compression technologies, SIREN offers superior audio quality and faster compression, and requires less storage space than alternative technologies. The fully integrated audio CD recording feature allows users to create and record custom compilations of their favorite hits and "burn" them to CDs from within the jukebox application. SIREN is currently available for download as a beta at www.sonicfoundry.com.
Sonic Foundry's ACID family software provides a powerful, yet easy-to-use music creation package that brings simplicity and flexibility to loop arranging and creating digital music. With a simple click-and drag, users can combine and mix loops and make real-time changes to pitch and tempo to create the perfect mix. ACID features intelligent tempo and pitch matching capabilities making all of the music loop segments play together instantly and effortlessly.
About Packard Bell NEC, Inc.
Packard Bell NEC, Inc. is a leading producer and marketer of a broad range of desktop and notebook computers and network servers in the Americas. The company's consumer division serves the retail market through the Packard Bell and NEC brands, and claims the highest installed base of home computers of any producer in the industry. Its NEC Computer Systems Division serves the commercial market with NEC-branded Versa[R] notebook computers, PowerMate[R] desktop computers, Express5800[TM] servers and MobilePro[TM] handheld personal computers.
With headquarters in Sacramento, CA, the company is privately held by NEC Corporation and Groupe Bull. Through these shareholders and its alliance with affiliates Packard Bell Europe and NEC PC in Japan, the company offers global reach and capabilities as well as advanced technology. Packard Bell NEC, Inc. and its affiliates comprise the fifth (as consolidated by IDC, April, 1999) largest PC vendor in the world. For more information on Packard Bell NEC and Packard Bell products, visit www.packardbell.com. For more information on NEC products, visit www.nec-computers.com.