EA AND CHERRY LANE MUSIC ENTER JOINT VENTURE TO CREATE NEXT LEVEL MUSIC
New Music Publishing Company Established
Redwood City, Calif., - November 16, 2004 - Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Cherry Lane Music Publishing today announced that the two companies have teamed up to create Next Level Music LLC, a music publishing company that will sign established as well as emerging new artists, acquire publishing catalogs, produce original music and further develop EA's rich catalogue of music. EA will promote the music through its games while Cherry Lane Music Publishing will administer the compositions and master recordings worldwide. Under the exclusive co-publishing partnership, the company will also license EA's existing music assets to commercials, films, film trailers, ring-tones and other commercial media.
While EA will continue to license music through EATM TRAX, the creation of Next Level Music is a ground-breaking first in the games business. Next Level Music's role will be analogous to that of the major music publishing companies founded by the great motion picture studios during the last century.
Gamers will enjoy first-rate production values and A-list musicians while the artists will benefit from deep exposure to the core 18-34 demographic and increased promotion through unique commercial exploitation.
Cherry Lane, in addition to creating and acquiring new music for Next Level will be charged with the exploitation outside the gaming fraternity of EA's existing music catalogue which reaches back through twenty-two years of sound recordings including theme songs from such blockbuster video game titles as Medal of HonorTM, The SimsTM and the outstanding football franchise Madden NFL football. Highlighting the EA catalogue are pieces from Mark Mothersbaugh, Paul Oakenfold, Chris Lennertz, Sean Callery, Mya and other notable artists.
"Video games have changed the way the world hears music and EA has led the way. We could not imagine a better partner in our new creative music venture than Cherry Lane. Together, we have the ability to acquire publishing catalogs of established artists and to sign and develop new artists and songwriters, providing them with unique opportunities for success,'" said Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Audio at EA.
"When it comes to interactive entertainment, EA is the best in the business. We like to think that we enjoy similar stature in the music publishing industry. The potential synergy is boundless," said Cherry Lane Music President, Aida Gurwicz. "EA's video game empire affords us a unique platform upon which to build a great and diverse music publishing company, tapping every genre of contemporary music. It is our shared goal to develop a music publishing company that will not only be preeminent in the video game industry but will rival the best in the music publishing industry. We're psyched and can't wait to 'get in the game.'"
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA) headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, EA posted revenues of $2.96 billion for fiscal 2004. The company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers and the Internet. In 2003, EA had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. Electronic Arts markets its products under three brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EA GAMESTM and EA SPORTS BIGTM. EA's homepage and online game site is www.electronicarts.co.uk More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at www.electronicarts.co.uk/press
About Cherry Lane Music Publishing
Cherry Lane, with its extensive catalogue of copyrights and library of masters spanning virtually all genres of music, is known for its expertise in copyright exploitation and administration. The Cherry Lane catalogue includes such great standard songs as "Just the Two of Us", "Take Me Home Country Roads," "Come Fly With Me," "Day-O" and "All Shook Up" as well as more recent Billboard chart-toppers including the Black Eyed Peas' "Where Is The Love," "Hey Mama," "Let's Get It Started," the Elvis Presley remix of "A Little Less Conversation" and such DreamWorks' hit singles as "The Middle" and "Hanging By a Moment". Cherry Lane's administration and co-publishing relationships with film and television production companies include DreamWorks SKG, NASCAR, Mel Gibson's Icon Productions, NFL Films, Edward R. Pressman Film Corporation, World Wrestling Entertainment, John Carpenter Productions, Telemundo, Professional Bull Riders, Inc., Roger Corman's Concorde-New Horizons Films, John Malkovich's Mr. Mudd, 4Kids Productions, American Film Marketing Association (AFMA), The Konigsberg-Smith Company, Avnet Kerner, Hearst Entertainment, Regent Entertainment and Leonard Hill Films, just to name a few. For more information Cherry Lane's homepage is www.cherrylane.com.
Electronic Arts, John Madden Football, The Sims, EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG and EA GAMES are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Medal of Honor is a trademark or registered trademark of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries for computer and video game products. NFL, Team names/logos are the property of their respective owners and used with permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.