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Vitaminic Will Use Windows Media Technology to Deliver Secure Music Over The Internet, and Highlight Leading European Artists on Media Player 7

``Vitaminic has built a network of powerful sites in a very short time, with music for every taste,'' said Erik Huggers, European Business Development Manager of the Digital Media Division at Microsoft. ``Now, with Windows Media, its customers will get the high quality they demand in the music they love. We are committed to providing a truly international digital media platform, and Vitaminic, whose commitment to local language services complements our own approach, brings the top-quality digital music people want most.''

As a featured provider, Vitaminic -- the leading European web community for the promotion and distribution of music in digital format -- will be showcased before millions of Windows Media Player users. More than 100 million licensed copies of Windows Media Player have been already distributed worldwide. Launched in June 1999, Vitaminic has since become a premiere music download destination in Europe through its network of sites in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Netherlands, providing a wide selection of downloadable music from more than 20,000 artists in approximately 250 different genres. Vitaminic opened a San Francisco office after launching its USA web site this spring.

``The Internet provides a great opportunity for the music industry to grow by showcasing a larger number of artists and reaching new consumers, and we strongly believe that a key element of this process is to restore the confidence of artists, labels and consumers through user-friendly, reliable, high-quality, secure online music technology,'' said Gianluca Dettori, CEO of Vitaminic. ``Windows Media provides an answer to these needs and is well-positioned to become the pre-eminent technology appreciated by consumers and supported by the music industry alike. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with Microsoft on our side.''

Thanks to the Vitaminic Plan, musicians and record labels alike around the world now have ready access to all of the tools they need to quickly and securely promote and sell their own music online. In just a few minutes time, record labels and artists can register online at Vitaminic's Backstage, create their own homepages, and begin to distribute and sell their own music throughout the entire world. They can also take advantage of the Vitaminic international presence by developing virtual focus groups online.

Windows Media Player is the fastest growing player for digital audio and video content in a variety of formats, including the industry-leading Windows Media Format, which offers CD-quality audio in half the file size of MP3. Windows Media Player 7, now available in beta, represents an advance in ease of use for mainstream computer users, with all-in-one access to local files and online media, integrated jukebox, audio enhancements and customizable ``skins'' to personalize the digital media experience. The player is available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/.

About Windows Media

Windows Media is the leading digital media platform, providing consumers, content providers, solution providers, software developers and corporations with unmatched audio and video quality. Windows Media Technologies, which includes Windows Media Player, Windows Media Services, Windows Media Tools and the Windows Media SDK, is available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/. The Windows Media Player is the fastest-growing digital media player and is available in 24 languages. To date, there are over 100 million licensed copies of the Windows Media Player, growing by more than one every second.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software -- any time, any place and on any device.

About Vitaminic

Vitaminic is Europe's foremost web community for the promotion and distribution of music in digital format. The Company currently operates eight sites around the world, with seven in Europe (Italy, Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Holland and Sweden) and one in the USA. Vitaminic's network of sites allows Internet users to explore a vast catalogue of music from more than 250 musical categories, to contact artists and other music fans, and to purchase tracks in digital format -- both MP3 and CD. Both artists and record labels alike can use Vitaminic to establish a direct relationship with fans, creating their own homepages on the site in order to promote and sell music in digital format. Tracks are loaded in MP3 format.

The Company, which currently has offices in eight countries, was founded in April 1999 by Gianluca Dettori, formerly General Manager of Lycos Bertelsmann Italy, together with Franco Gonella and Adriano Marconetto, both having substantial experience in the field of marketing and communication. To-date, Vitaminic's sites have generated an average monthly total of over 6,500,000 page-views, 1,000,000 audiostream requests and 800,000 downloads. Since operations began, more than 70,000 users have registered their addresses with the Company's sites.

For further information regarding Vitaminic USA, please contact: Kimberly King-Burns, or Julie Kibbler, both of CONVERGENZ/Solutions, 818-761-5688, info@convergenz.com.

Microsoft and Windows Media are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. Vitaminic is a trademark of Vitaminic S.p.A. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE: Vitaminic SpA; Microsoft Corporation