The Orchard Launches Unprecedented Chinese Catalogue on the iTunes Music Store

The Orchard Launches Unprecedented Chinese Catalogue on the iTunes Music Store

China's Hottest Single - 'Mouse Loves Rice' (100 Million Downloads) - Is Among Thousands of Tracks From China's 20 Leading Labels to Make Western Debut

The Orchard Orchestrates Digital Merchandising Campaign For Albums Ranging From Jackie Chan to Hang on the Box, China's First Female Punk Rock Group to CMCB, Chinese Hip-Hop Pioneers

NEW YORK, Oct. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The Orchard, the leading distributor and marketer of independent music in the world, today announced the exclusive western launch of China's Number 1 paid download, "Mouse Loves Rice," together with thousands of other tracks from 20 of China's biggest labels on the iTunes Music Store. This unprecedented infusion of Chinese music into the American digital music landscape will be accompanied by a major merchandising campaign, orchestrated by The Orchard, to showcase China's hottest music to US audiences.

From an exclusive digital-only Jackie Chan charity track to albums from a broad and diverse selection of music from the latest Chinese Hip-Hop, Rap, Rock, Traditional and Cultural Music, The Orchard debuts this unparalleled selection of Chinese hits on the iTunes Music Store. To promote this peerless collection, The Orchard enlisted Chinese legend Jackie Chan to compile his top dozen all-time favorite tracks, which range from Mandarin Pop to Alternative & Punk to Instrumental Chinese Classical to Canto Pop. In addition, much of The Orchard's Chinese music catalog will be included this week in an iTunes feature highlighting music of the world. See these links for screenshots of the features:

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The Orchard has firmly established itself as the pioneering expert in digital music marketing, merchandising and promotion, and is rivaled only by the marketing departments at major labels. In addition, The Orchard will supply the content through its distribution partnerships, including the leading mobile companies around the world: The Orchard has the largest mobile network of any distributor, spanning over 200 global services including Sprint, Dwango Wireless, Zingy, 9 Squared, IAM Mobile, Arvato Mobile and Hudson Soft.

Among the myriad offerings debuting exclusively on the iTunes Music Store:

Artist Title Description

Jackie Chan Jia Xiang De Long Yan Shu An exclusive charity track (Long Yan Tree In Home Town) by Jackie Chan for Lifeline Express (a non- profit mobile eye hospital). Recorded in July 2005.

Yang Chen Gang Mei Er Ai Wo One of the most popular (Girls Love Me) Mandarin pop singers. Ranked #1 for 2 weeks in May 2005 on the Bai Du charts. The track "Lao Shu Ai Da Mi (Mouse Loves Rice)" has been downloaded over 200 million times since its release in Q4 2004.

Hang On The Box Yellow Banana China's first female punk rock band. They have toured internationally, including the US and Japan.

Chinese Orchestra Liang Shan-Bo and Zhu Ying "Butterfly Lovers" Tai concerto is the most (Butterfly Lovers) popular Chinese classical piece of all times -- inspired by a legendary Chinese love story (analogous to the story of "Romeo and Juliet").

Stanley Main Stanley Main Street This album is a true Street representation and pioneer of "Cross-Over" between the West and East. A group of underground artists in Hong Kong coming from different cultures created this album, which includes English, Cantonese and Mandarin.

Liu Jia Liang Ni Dao Di Ai Shui One of the most popular (Who Do You Love Actually) Mandarin pop singers. The track "Ni Dao Di Ai Shui (Who Do You Love Actually?)" ranked #1 in Bai Du (China's largest search engine).

Xi Yu Dao Lang Wang Luo Bin Wei Fa Biao The late Wang Luo Bin had Zuo Pin Ji collected over a thousand (Wang Luo Bin Unreleased precious folk and ethnic Songs Collection) musical pieces, and this special album is a collection of songs, which have never been released or published. Xi Yu Dao Lang, who represents the pop music culture of China's Northwestern territories, performs these songs.

Qiu Tian De Chong Kuang Ren Ri Ji A well-known Punk band. Zi (Fall Insects)

CMCB Gong Fu The first Hip-Hop group in (Kung Fu) China.

Xi Yu Dao Lang Dou Guai Ni Xi Yu Dao Lang, who (It's Your Fault) represents the pop music culture of China's Northwestern territories, sold over a million copies of this release "Dou Guai Ni (It's Your Fault)".

Hei Jiu Yue Xia Yi Ge Jiu Shi Ni Experimental. A mix of (Black September) (The Next is You) Metal, Rock, Rap, Jazz and Electronic along with religious elements.

Miserable Faith This Is A Problem The force behind China's rap metal scene.

You Qian De Gou Ni De Ma Shi Wo De Zhang (Your Mother Is My Mother- (Rich Dogs) Mu Niang In-Law) The track "Ni De Ma Shi Wo De Zhang Mu Niang (Your Mother is My Mother-in-Law)" has reached the Top 10 in various charts across the country.

Cang Ying Cang Ying > Z One of the leading (The Fly) (The Fly> Z) alternative Rock bands in China.

"The Orchard's landmark launch of this rich spectrum of leading artists and labels from China again demonstrates our commitment to opening new markets for artists and enabling the free flow of music across borders, oceans, and cultures," said Greg Scholl, chief executive of The Orchard and managing director of Dimensional Associates, the company that owns The Orchard, eMusic and Dimensional Music Publishing. "To build new audiences and encourage cross-over, we've built the most sophisticated digital marketing and merchandising capability in the world. Coupled with local offices, staff, and exclusive business partners in literally every global music territory, we feel it's an unbeatable combination for digital retailers and their customers."

This launch and the ongoing Chinese program build on Orchard's existing relationship with Asia Markets Development Limited (AMDL), based in Hong Kong and helmed by former telecommunications executive Daniel Cheung, the founder and Executive Director of AMDL, a seasoned digital media executive with more than 20 years experience in telecom and global information technology, and ECD Hong Kong Limited (ECD), also based in Hong Kong and helmed by Jolland Chan, the founder and CEO of ECD, who uses the author's pseudonym, "Xiang Xue Huai" (meaning "Reminiscences In Snow"). Chan, a legendary songwriter, producer and A&R executive, has decades of experience in the music industry and is recognized as one of the most accomplished artists and business professionals in the Chinese music industry.

"This is a watershed of the online music development and a monumental step for the Chinese music industry, with The Orchard and partners playing a pivotal role," said Cheung. "Music has been an integral part of Chinese civilization for the last 4,000 years and with this launch, Chinese music will begin to resonate in all corners of the globe," added Chan.

The Orchard, AMDL, and ECD will continue work together to license content from the Asia region, and market and promote it abroad; and also, to distribute The Orchard's catalogue in download and mobile services there.

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 73 countries and every music genre. The Orchard supplies its catalogue of more than 600,000 tracks to all of the leading legal digital music retailers and mobile operators throughout the world. The company is headquartered in New York and London, with operations in Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, Toronto, Kolkata, Johannesburg, Moscow and Melbourne, and local representatives in Paris, Milan, Barcelona, and Ramallah.

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).

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 government entities and key private sector companies on anti-piracy initiatives throughout the Greater China region.

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.

Contacts: Andy Morris Andy Morris & Company (212) 561-7465 andy@amc-pr.com

Source: The Orchard

CONTACT: Andy Morris, of Andy Morris & Company, +1-212-561-7465, andy@amc-pr.com

Web site: http://www.ecd.com.hk/ http://www.theorchard.com/

------- Profile: Ent