The Orchard backs up a new music service and online community BuyMyPlaylist.com

Online, August 17, 2010 (Newswire.com) - New York NY, Porto, Portugal Znak Inc., the owner of BuyMyPlaylist music service, and The Orchard Enterprises LLC have signed a commercial agreement. According to its terms, The Orchard grants Znak Inc. specific non-exclusive marketing and sales rights to its entire catalog of over one million songs from hundreds of labels and every genre and era - from Frank Sinatra to Coldplay; from Hot Cuban Music to Chinese Pop. Znak, through its websites (buymyplaylist.com and similar sister sites), will make the music available to its registered users for paid downloads and limited streaming.

The buymyplaylist.com site, in public beta, is to be launched in September 2010, first in the US, then in UK and Portugal, to test the idea in different locations. If successful, the service will expand to other territories; Znak's new license includes 18 countries. The current buymyplaylist.com site contains a demo of the service's basic functionalities.

"We are very excited about the agreement and the unique service Znak has developed," says Jaime Gullespie, Orchard's VP for Business Development, who negotiated the terms. Greg Golebiewski, Znak's CEO, emphasizes that his firm, supported by Ted Cohen and Faron McKenzie from TAG Strategic, and Jeff Liebenson of Herrick, Feinstein LLP, has "approached all major record companies and many independent labels and distributors, and The Orchard was the first to grasp the enormous potential of the BMP [buymyplaylist] concept and its business model." He hopes others will soon follow, as the talks continue, and that the terms of the Orchard license might become a model for other deals.

BuyMyPlayist allows its users to view and search Orchard's (and soon other providers') catalogs to build short 5 to 8 track personal and thematic playlists. The users publish the playlists on the BMP sites, and via an embeddable webplayer, on other sites and social networks, to promote the compilations and its artists and to recommend them to other music lovers. Each time the whole playlist or any of its tracks is bought and downloaded or streamed by another user, the playlist creator receives up to 15% of its retail price as credits. The credits can be used to buy and recommend more music, including physical CDs, pay for additional premium services and virtual goods or be transferred to other users.

"There are many great sites that offer music 'for free,' whatever that means," says Greg Golebiewski. "Others simply sell or re-sell the music without much guidance or even interaction with their clients. BuyMyPlaylist is both a music store and a community where more experienced users and DJs can recommend great old and new artists, create trends and following, and even upload their own music to share it with others. It is no longer fame vs. fortune, as Clay Shirky has tried to convince us. Thanks to our innovative business model, users of BuyMyPlaylist can play the music and with the music they like or create, earn recognition of their peers - the most popular playlists will appear in BMP top rankings - and they can earn valuable credits or even a (small) fortune, if they are really good."

The new site's motto reads: Music Fans in Concert with Their Favorite Artists, which is to emphasize the partnership-like relationship between the music lovers and the artists and their labels. 10 years after Napster, one cannot refer to music fans simply as listeners or buyers; thanks to the Internet, they are active promoters of music. Many are also "players," DJs, mixtape artists. "Do you remember High Fidelity, the movie, or the book," asks Golebiewski. "Someone said that the old mixtapes were the most popular art form of that time. Playlists are just like those mixtapes, only digital. In this respect, our service is nothing new; however, here [at BMP] we hope to make the art not only popular again but also legal and rewarding to both the fans and their favorite artists."

BuyMyPlaylist can be a great marketing channel for the independent musicians who want to promote their creations. But it can also serve the established artists and their labels - to introduce new releases or dust off the old ones, to promote concert tours, to interact with fans and other artists, and to test new ideas.

In addition to music lovers, DJs and artists, BuyMyPlaylist can be of great use to many so called institutional users - musical bars and cafes, clubs, fan clubs, magazines, radio and TV programs and even hotels and spas to replace their background "elevator" music with carefully selected signature playlists, to help build loyal clientele and promote the brand. The opportunities for some creative, interactive use of music seem unlimited. "With BuyMyPlaylist," says Golebiewski and smiles, "almost anyone can become another Cafe Ibiza or Tiesto, only easier and quicker."

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Headquartered in New York and London with operations in 26 markets around the world, The Orchard (NASDAQ: ORCD) is an independent music and video distributor specializing in comprehensive digital strategies for content owners. Through innovative global marketing and promotions, The Orchard drives sales across more than 660 digital and mobile storefronts in 75 countries, as well as physical retailers across North America and Europe. The company was founded in 1997 as a business partner that fosters creativity and independence within its global clients. For further information, please visit www.theorchard.com.

Znak Inc. is a Delaware corporation, developer of digital content management and monetization platforms. Its flag Znak it! - virtual currency-based micropayment system - was presented successfully during the 2008 and 2009 Web 2.0 Expos in San Francisco and at the Digital Innovators' Summit in Berlin in 2009. It has development offices in Poland and Portugal. BuyMyPlaylist is wholly owned by Znak Inc. www.znak-it.com www.buymyplaylist.com For more information or advertising/cooperation opportunities, please write at [email protected]