Orchard Partners with ECD, Significantly Expanding Reach in China

Orchard Partners with ECD, Significantly Expanding Reach in China

ECD Hong Kong Limited to Immediately License to The Orchard Its Digitized Catalogue Of Over 100,000 Songs From the Top Active Chinese Labels, Including the Most Influential Company in THE Greater China Region, Freeland Films Group

Freeland Films Group Includes the Love Song "Mouse Loves Rice," the Number One Hit in the Download Chart for the Past 3 Months With Accumulated Downloads of 200 Million in Unit Sales in the Region

Jolland Chan and Richard Gottehrer, Legendary Songwriters and Producers, also to Collaborate On Developing Pan US-Chinese Artists

NEW YORK, HONG KONG and BEIJING, June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The Orchard, the leading distributor and marketer of independent music in the world, today announced a partnership with ECD, the pioneer of selling digital content and single-song downloads securely and legally via its "Easy Downloads" multi purpose function kiosk. ECD will make its digitized and ready-for-sale catalogue of over 100,000 songs of top Chinese repertoire -- a broad and diverse selection of music from the latest Chinese Hip Hop, Rap, Rock to Traditional and Cultural Music -- available through Orchard's unparalleled retail and mobile distribution networks. The Orchard maintains digital distribution and marketing relationships with over 100 of the world's leading digital music stores globally, including iTunes, eMusic, Napster, MSN, MusicMatch, Real/Rhapsody, and Yahoo!, and has distribution partnerships with industry-leading mobile companies globally, including Sprint, Dwango Wireless, Zingy, 9 Squared, HIFI Ringtones, IAM Mobile, Securycast, Arvato Mobile and Hudson Soft. The Orchard will also make its existing catalogue of over half a million songs available through ECD's portal and kiosk products, which serve customers in the Greater China Region and the Asia Pacific Region.

The Orchard's newly signed Chinese labels provided by ECD include:

* Freeland Films Group

* Beijing FeiChang Qihua Music Culture Arts Co., Ltd.

* Dajiachang Co., Ltd.,

* First Records

* Starwin Records

* China Records Yi Neng (Beijing) Music Co., Ltd.

* Yi Yang Records

* Guangzhou Yinxiang Publishing Ltd.

* Jinwen Records

* Masterworks Records Beijing

* Scream Records

* Swing Jack Records

* AL-Songs Music Publishing Ltd.

* Bingo Music Ltd.

* Click Music Ltd.

* Hong Kong Association of Christian Music Ministry Ltd.

* Jamaster A Music Productions

* Jer Music Ltd.

* Mad Studios

* Music Man Production Ltd.

* Respect Music International Ltd.

* Wholala.com

This agreement builds on Orchard's existing relationship with Asia Markets Development Limited (AMDL), based in Hong Kong and helmed by former Cable & Wireless executive Daniel Cheung, a seasoned digital media executive with more than 20 years experience in telecom and global information technology. The Orchard, ECD, and AMDL will work together to aggregate content from the region, market and promote it abroad to both Chinese nationals and non- traditional customers of the repertoire; and also, to sell The Orchard's catalogue in download and mobile services across the Greater China region.

In addition, Jolland Chan, the founder and chief executive of ECD, and Richard Gottehrer, founder and Chairman of The Orchard, will begin collaborating on A&R and marketing partnerships to cross promote breaking Chinese and American artists.

Chan, who uses the author's pseudonym, "Xiang Xue Huai" (meaning "Reminiscences In Snow"), is a legendary songwriter, producer and A&R executive with over 20 years experience in the music industry. He joined Polydor and Polygram Records Company in 1977, which was then acquired by Universal Group in 1999. In 1998, Jolland joined BMG Music Publishing Hong Kong Ltd as Managing Director. He managed and produced many best selling albums in Hong Kong and the Greater China region; the albums have sold over 10 million copies. Jolland has written over a thousand titles of Cantonese and Mandarin pop songs in the Greater China Region, and his honors include Best Lyrics Award, 10 Golden Song Awards, and the Most Performed Work by Media and Society of the Year Award. He is the Vice-chairman of Composers & Authors Society of Hong Kong (CASH), where he has served as a Director since 1998; and served as Director of Music Publishing Association of Hong Kong (MPA) from 1998 -- 2000, Chairman of the Pop Author Society of Hong Kong (PASH) from 1990 -- 2000.

Gottehrer, also, is a music industry veteran as a legendary songwriter ("My Boyfriend's Back," "I Want Candy," "Sorrow," "Nightime"), multi-platinum producer (Blondie, The Go-Go's, The Raveonettes, Joan Armatrading), and music industry executive. His songs have been recorded by David Bowie, George Thorogood, Aaron Carter, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others. Richard co-founded Sire Records (later sold to the Time Warner Corporation) which quickly became one of the industry's leading independent record companies. Its roster included Madonna, the Talking Heads, the Ramones, the Pretenders and Depeche Mode.

"Jolland has been in the music industry for a long time, working in various positions: from writer, producer, artist management to content provider. He has extensive knowledge on various sectors of the music markets and is well connected with music companies in Greater China," said Flora Yip, Vice President Asia Region Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

"Jolland Chan is a prominent writer in Hong Kong with over a thousand works published over the past decades, many of which have become canto pop classics. He has significantly contributed to the music industry through experience and creativity," said Elton Yeung, chief executive of Composer Author Society of Hong Kong (CASH).

"As one former colleague and observer of Jolland's advancement in the music industry, I am glad to see that he never rests with his past success but moves on to new forms of music business that is 'now.' I wish him success in his new venture," said Ricky Fung, chief executive of IFPI Hong Kong.

"China is the most dynamic market in the world, and the music scene there is as diverse and cutting-edge as anywhere in the world. China remains one of the most important regional areas of focus for The Orchard, and with the addition of Jolland and ECD to our already-great team, we now offer an unparalleled selection of Chinese content to the Western world for the first time," said Greg Scholl, chief executive of The Orchard and managing director of Dimensional Associates, Inc, the private equity fund that owns The Orchard, eMusic, eMusicLive and Dimensional Music Publishing. "Richard and I also look forward to working with Jolland, one of the most accomplished music executives in China, to develop artists and forge creative partnerships that have never before existed in the music industry. Once again, The Orchard, an independent company, is leading the way."

About ECD

ECD Hong Kong Limited (http://www.ecd.com.hk/) is a pioneering digital music company that revolutionized the digital distribution market in Hong Kong and China through its "Easy Downloads" multi purpose functions kiosks. The kiosks, which offer a secure and legal retail alternative to help combat China's rampant music piracy, provide real-time multimedia digital content downloading services so customers can "buy what they really want, the way they want it," offering a vast content selection of music, video and images downloadable to any device available in the market, or sent automatically to any cell phone handset. ECD aggregates content from the Asia Pacific Region using its proprietary Digital Asset Management Platform.

About The Orchard

The Orchard (http://www.theorchard.com/) is the leading distributor and marketer of independent music in the world, representing thousands of labels spanning 72 countries and every music genre. The Orchard supplies its catalogue of more than 600,000 tracks to all of the leading legal digital music stores and services throughout the world. Headquartered in New York, The Orchard maintains operations in London, Paris, Moscow, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, Tel Aviv and Melbourne.

About AMDL

Asia Markets Development Limited (AMDL), headquartered in Hong Kong, is focused on real-time collaboration with industry leaders for new digital media content, the next generation applications and devices, and the new business opportunities they will create. The company continues to work with the Hong Kong government and key private sector companies on anti-piracy initiatives throughout the Greater China region.

About Dimensional Associates, Inc.

Dimensional Associates, Inc. is the New York-based private equity arm of JDS Capital Management, Inc. Its portfolio companies include eMusic, The Orchard and Dimensional Music Publishing (formerly DreamWorks Music Publishing).

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

Source: The Orchard

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

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