The Sun Rises at eMusic

The Sun Rises at eMusic

eMusic Subscribers Can 'Cash' in on Coveted Vintage Tracks From Legendary Sun Records

First Rock 'n' Roll Label Partners With First MP3 Download Service

- The May 19th Launch Includes Sun Singles From Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Charlie Rich and Carl Perkins -

NEW YORK, May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 19th, music history will be made when eMusic offers new digital downloads from the legendary Sun Records catalogue. eMusic's initial launch includes 18 custom albums of material recorded in Memphis under the legendary Sun Records, including the complete Sun singles of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Charlie Rich and Carl Perkins.

eMusic is initially posting more than 400 tracks from these hit-makers -- as well as tracks from Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Burgess, Rosco Gordon, Little Milton, Bill Justis, the Prisonaires, Harmonica Frank, Rufus Thomas, Carl Mann, Billy Lee Riley and dozens of other Sun artists. Each of the 18 albums are reviewed by renowned music writer and Mississippi River music expert John Morthland. Morthland serves as eMusic's in-house Blues columnist and his reviews will be available exclusively to eMusic subscribers.

The Sun Records catalogue contains more than 1500 tracks from Sam Phillips' original Sun Records (recorded between 1950 and 1966), which eMusic will be making available over the next several months. The Sun recordings include not only singles, but also many songs and alternate versions that are currently out of print or have previously only been available on giant box set collections. The eMusic Sun collection will even include several tracks that have previously only been available on vinyl.

The initial eMusic launch will include both the first single Sam Phillips released, "Boogie In The Park," by one-man-band Joe Hill Louis, dating from August, 1950 -- as well as what many consider the last significant single Sun put out, "Cadillac Man" by garage-rockers the Jesters, released in February, 1966 (featuring a young Jim Dickinson on vocals).

"It is with great pleasure that eMusic releases these rare, historic tracks," said David Pakman, COO of eMusic and a managing director of Dimensional Associates, the private equity arm of JDS Capital that owns eMusic, The Orchard and Dimensional Music Publishing. "Sun's coveted collection has never been released for download before and eMusic is proud to make available these national treasures-some of which were last released on vinyl. The eMusic Sun collection features some tracks that have only been released on box sets-and some songs that have never been released at all. Award-winning eMusic columnist John Morthland will help subscribers navigate the rich offerings through special reviews available exclusively on eMusic. This is a huge win for our subscribers."

John A. Singleton, President of Sun Entertainment Corporation, stated, "We are extremely pleased that our catalog of vintage masters will now be available to the eMusic customers and we are confident that the eMusic staff will do a great job in marketing this music."

More than just the tracks from the original Sun Records, eMusic has also licensed the rights to another 5,000 tracks from the Sun Entertainment Corporation catalogue including Red Bird Records (the Dixie Cups), Blue Cat Records (The Ad Libs), Plantation Records (Jeannie C. Riley, Patti Page, Webb Pierce, David Allan Coe), SSS International (the Vogues, Johnny Adams), Jessup Records (Ralph Stanley), Silver Fox (Hank Ballard) and Amazon (the Rugbys). eMusic will be making the entire Sun Entertainment catalogue-over 6500 tracks total-available for download over the coming months, including highly sought-after releases by: Floyd Cramer, the Flatlanders (their fabled 1973 debut album), northern soul mainstay Bettye Lavette, Sleepy John Estes, Narvel Felts, Johnny Horton (rare early sides), rockabilly legend Sleepy LaBeef, country superstars the Oak Ridge Boys, Johnny Paycheck, Floyd Tillman, Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm, the great Conway Twitty (as Harold Jenkins) and Texas blues guitar godfather T-BoneWalker.

About eMusic

eMusic (http://www.emusic.com/) stands alone as the only digital music service that is 100% focused on serving the needs of independent music fans and independent labels. Delivering more than 2 million downloads each month, eMusic is among the top digital music services, offering a diverse catalogue of 625,000 tracks from established and emerging artists in every genre from the world's top independent labels. eMusic was not only the first service to sell songs and albums in the popular MP3 format, it was the first company to launch a digital music subscription service. Unlike other services that severely restrict portability, eMusic allows members complete flexibility to burn CDs, transfer to MP3 devices and make multiple copies for personal use. eMusic also offers access to exclusive recordings from eMusicLive's network of premier music venues across the country. eMusic subscription plans start at $9.99 per month for 40 downloads. A free trial is available to all new users. Based in New York and San Diego, eMusic is wholly owned by Dimensional Associates, Inc., the private equity arm of JDS Capital Management, Inc.

NOTE: eMusic is a registered trademark and eMusic.com is a trademark of eMusic.com Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Contacts: Andy Morris & Company Andy Morris / Carol Klenfner (212) 561-7465 / (212) 561-7467 andy@amc-pr.com / carol@amc-pr.com

Source: eMusic

CONTACT: Andy Morris, +1-212-561-7465, andy@amc-pr.com, or Carol Klenfner, +1-212-561-7467, carol@amc-pr.com, both of Andy Morris & Company, for eMusic

Web site: http://www.emusic.com/

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