Reported by Amie Street:
AmieStreet.com Announces Series A Financing Led By Amazon.com
NEW YORK, NY—August 6, 2007—AmieStreet.com, a fast-growing digital
music store with a unique demand-based pricing system, announced today
the completion of its Series A financing led by Amazon.com, Inc.
(NASDAQ: AMZN). The amount of Amazon's investment and the terms are
not disclosed.
"Amie Street has a very smart and innovative team," said Jeff
Blackburn, Senior Vice President for Business Development, Amazon.com.
"The idea of having customers directly influence the price of songs
is an interesting and novel approach to selling digital music."
AmieStreet.com is the first digital music store propelled by social
networking, where members of the community drive the discovery,
promotion and pricing of music. All songs on AmieStreet.com start at a
price of zero cents. As more people download a song the price rises,
capping at $0.98.
For recommending their favorite songs to their friends, members are
rewarded by receiving credit for the purchase of additional music on
AmieStreet.com. The more popular a song becomes after a member has
recommended it, the more credit he or she receives to spend on music.
The recommendation system brings the music discovery process and the
dynamic of social networking full circle, giving members the incentive
and the means to continually discover and share new music.
AmieStreet.com is a music network where people's passion for music,
and their desire to share it with one another, generates commerce that
benefits the entire community.
"AmieStreet.com grew from the idea that we needed to make buying music
social and fun," said AmieStreet.com's co-founder and CEO Elliott
Breece. "The Amie Street community took over from there, driving a
shift toward a music marketplace where consumers decide what is
popular and what music is worth. We're thrilled to have Amazon.com's
support in empowering music consumers."
Anyone can upload their music to AmieStreet.com, and all songs are
downloadable in DRM-free mp3 format.
In conjunction with the announcement of its Series A, AmieStreet.com
is debuting releases from Audio Bee, Daptone Records, Nettwerk Music
Group, United For Opportunity (UFO), Dualtone Music Group,
RoyaltyShare and INgrooves. As always, all songs start free!
About AmieStreet.com
AmieStreet.com is an online music destination that is changing the way
people discover and buy music. Founded in the Spring of 2006 by then
Brown University seniors -- Josh Boltuch, Elliott Breece and Elias
Roman -- AmieStreet.com is a site where the members of the community
determine the price of songs, which start out free and rise in price
the more they are purchased. The site also rewards its members with
downloads when they recognize and recommend tracks that rise in price,
giving users an incentive to find and recommend good music first,
while giving artists the platform to promote and sell their music.
Amazon.com Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ
significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others,
risks related to competition, management of growth, new products,
services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating
results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and
claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial
agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange
rates, system interruption, significant amount of indebtedness,
inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud.
More information about factors that potentially could affect
Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, and all
subsequent filings.
