<<

New Yahoo! Canada Service is Music to Canadian Ears Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada Subscription Service Offers Music Fans Unique Personalization and Sharing of Over 1 Million Songs

TORONTO, Jan. 31, 2006 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX News Network) -- Yahoo! Canada Co., an affiliate of Yahoo! Inc., a leading global Internet company, today announced the launch of its exciting new music subscription service, Yahoo!(R) Music Unlimited Canada. Available immediately, Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada gives Canadian music fans access to a catalogue of over 1 million tracks to listen to, the option to transfer to portable devices, and the unique ability to share and discover music with friends through Yahoo!(R) Messenger, all for a great value. The new music subscription service is available from $6.99 a month for an annual subscription, or $8.99 for a monthly subscription. Yahoo! Canada is offering a seven-day free trial at www.yahoo.ca/ymu to Canadian users so they can enjoy the unparalleled music listening experience and management functionality that makes Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada one of the most exciting online music destinations in Canada. The service also launches as Rogers Yahoo! Music Unlimited on Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet today, with an exclusive two-month free trial www.yahoo.ca/ymu being offered only to new and existing Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet customers starting today through March 31, 2006. "Yahoo! Music Canada is Canada's number one music streaming site and we are committed to providing the Web's most engaging and relevant services that are built specifically for Canadians," said Kerry Munro, General Manager, Yahoo! Canada. "Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada draws on the best of Yahoo! to offer music fans unique personalization and community features." In addition to allowing fans to browse and listen to friends' collections of subscription music and playlists via Yahoo! Messenger, the service enables them to build personalized music libraries, transfer tracks to compatible portable devices, purchase discounted permanent downloads, listen to commercial-free Internet radio stations and access their subscription service from any Internet-connected computer. "From premium radio to an entirely on-demand experience, Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada has assembled all the key elements to provide Canadian music fans with the content and features that matter most to them," said Dave Goldberg, Vice President and General Manager, Yahoo! Music. "For great value, users get to listen to as much music as they want, while utilizing superior innovations in playlist generation and community features to enrich and expand their music experience."

Subscription Service with Unparalleled Price, Sharing and Personalization Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada features include(x):

(x)All Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada features are also available on Rogers Yahoo! Music Unlimited

- Yahoo! Music Engine: Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada comes with a free music management application, the Yahoo! Music Engine, which lets consumers rip, mix and burn CDs, import and manage music, and transfer music to portable devices.

- Large Music Library: Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada offers a continuously growing online catalogue of music composed of more than 1 million songs, both international and Canadian artists, encoded in the highest audio quality (192 kbs) from all major record labels as well as most independent labels.

- Yahoo! Messenger Integration: Extending the tradition of Yahoo! Music Canada's community-based music experience, Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada makes it easy for consumers to share and discover music among an online community of friends. Integrated with Yahoo! Messenger (http://messenger.yahoo.ca), the service provides the unique ability for subscribers to browse and listen to friends' subscription music collections and playlists. - Personalization & Community: Leveraging the more than 6 billion song, artist and album ratings of Yahoo! Music's global fans, Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada will generate personalized homepages and recommendations based on perceived tastes and subscriber community ratings. As users rate more songs and add to their digital collection by importing music from CDs, downloads, etc., subscribers discover new music through recommendations made by other Yahoo! Canada members who have similar music tastes.

- Music Portability: Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada uses the WMA format and Windows Media Digital Rights Management 10 (WM DRM 10). This support enables subscription tracks to be transferred to any portable device that supports WM DRM 10.

- Instant Playlists: Members seeking music similar to a particular artist or genre can generate instant playlists of dozens of comparable tracks and store them in their personal music library. Instant playlists are a convenient way to discover new music; organize tracks for special occasions such as roadtrips, workouts or dinners-for-two; as well as transfer multiple files to portable devices.

- LAUNCHcast Integration: Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada subscribers automatically receive a premium version of LAUNCHcast. This version of LAUNCHcast offers more than 150 pre-programmed stations, no commercial interruptions, unlimited song skipping, premium audio quality and exclusive genre and artist stations. This service is already available to Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet customers through Rogers Yahoo! Music.

- Access from any PC: Using their Yahoo! Canada ID, members can access their personalized subscription content from any Internet-connected computer.

- Download Purchases: The Yahoo! Music Engine provides access to a music download store, allowing users to purchase and permanently own songs for $0.99 per track. Subscribers to Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada are offered downloads at a discounted rate of $0.89 per song. Downloads purchased through Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada can be burned onto CDs, transferred to compatible portable devices, and used on a total of five PCs.

Pricing and Availability

Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada can be accessed by downloading the free Yahoo! Music Engine music management software from http://music.yahoo.ca. The Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada music subscription service is available for an annual fee of $83.88 (equates to $6.99 per month) or a monthly subscription of $8.99. The Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada music subscription service with to-go feature is available for an annual fee of $143.88 (equates to $11.99 per month) or a monthly subscription of $13.99. Pricing is identical for the Rogers Yahoo! Music Unlimited service. About Yahoo! Music Canada Yahoo! Music Canada (http://music.yahoo.ca), offers users comprehensive music-related content, features and information. Yahoo! Music Canada provides a wide selection of streaming audio, an extensive collection of music videos, Internet radio, exclusive artist features and music news covering all genres of music to Yahoo! Canada visitors. Rogers Yahoo! Music is available to Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet customers. About Yahoo! Canada Yahoo! Canada Co. is a leading Internet destination that provides online products and services to meet the needs of Canadians and offers a range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with Internet users. Yahoo! Canada services Canadians in both English and in French through its sites, www.yahoo.ca and http://francais.yahoo.ca. Yahoo! Canada is headquartered in , .

Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners YAHOO! MUSIC UNLIMITED CANADA / ROGERS YAHOO! MUSIC UNLIMITED FACT SHEET

Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada / Rogers Yahoo! Music Unlimited ------= music subscription service ------$6.99 per month for annual subscription; $8.99 monthly subscription - Permanent downloads discounted for subscribers for $0.89 - Allows consumers to: - Build personalized music libraries from catalogue of one million songs - Share and discover music with friends through Yahoo! Messenger / Rogers Yahoo! Messenger - Access commercial-free Internet radio station - Purchase permanent downloads

Yahoo! Music Unlimited Canada / Rogers Yahoo! Music Unlimited ------= music subscription service with to-go feature ------$11.99 per month for annual subscription; $13.99 monthly subscription - Permanent downloads discounted for subscribers for $0.89 - Allows consumers to: - Build personalized music libraries from catalogue of one million songs - Share and discover music with friends through Yahoo! Messenger / Rogers Yahoo! Messenger - Transfer tracks to portable devices ------Access commercial-free Internet radio station - Purchase permanent downloads

Yahoo! Music Engine / Rogers Yahoo! Music Engine = ------free music management application ------Allows consumers to: - Mix and burn CDs - Import and manage personal music collection - Transfer music to portable devices - Music download store at $0.99 per track

Yahoo! Music Canada / Industry Metrics ------Yahoo! Music users have logged more than 6 billion user ratings in audio and video. (source: internal Yahoo! data) - Between May 2005 and December 2005 the number of unique visitors (work and home combined) on Yahoo! Music Canada grew by over 200 per cent. (source: comScore Media Metrix, May 2005 to December 2005) - Between May 2005 and December 2005 the entire Canadian online Entertainment-Music category grew by over 13 per cent to more than 11.5 million unique visitors, representing more than 58 per cent of the total online population at home and work combined. (source: comScore Media Metrix, May 2005 to December 2005) - In December 2005, there were over 650,000 unique visitors (work and home combined) to Yahoo! Music Canada (source: comScore Media Metrix, December 2005) - In December 2005, Yahoo! Music (all sites) was the number 1 online music destination in Canada, work and home combined. (source: comScore Media Metrix, December 2005)

Yahoo! Music Canada -- Top 10 Videos(x) ------For December, 2005

1. Madonna - Hung Up 2. Kelly Clarkson - Because Of You 3. Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten 4. D.H.T. - Listen To Your Heart (Unplugged Version) 5. Sean Paul - We Be Burnin' 6. Beyoncé - Check On It 7. Kelly Clarkson - Behind These Hazel Eyes 8. James Blunt - You're Beautiful 9. Simple Plan - Crazy 10. Pussycat Dolls - Don't Cha

Yahoo! Music Canada -- Top 10 Canadian Artists(x) ------For December, 2005

1. Simple Plan 2. Shawn Desman 3. 4. 5. 6. Daniel Powter 7. Keshia Chante 8. 9. Melissa O'Neil 10. Our Lady Peace

(x)No endorsement intended or implied.

SOURCE: Yahoo! Canada

Media contacts: Colleen Finnegan, Yahoo! Canada, (416) 341-5273, [email protected]; Fleishman-Hillard for Yahoo! Canada, Leona Hobbs, (416) 645-3656, [email protected]

Copyright (C) 2006 CNW Group. All rights reserved. News Provided by COMTEX