Cdnow And Hard Rock Cafe Partner To Bring The Ultimate Live Concert Experience To The Web

Concert Series Connects Music Fans to their Favorite Artists with Interactive Live Performances and in Cafe Promotions

FORT WASHINGTON, PA AND ORLANDO, FL (Wednesday, May 23, 2001) - CDNOW, the leading online music destination, and Hard Rock Cafe International, one of the most globally recognized music and entertainment brands, have joined forces to present the ultimate interactive concert experience. These two music brands will co-produce a series of six original concerts for webcast on a co-branded website within http://cdnow.com/hr scheduled to debut this summer. The series, "CDNOW Presents Sessions at Hard Rock," will serve as a compelling promotional vehicle for featured artists to sell CDs to the viewers watching the webcasts.

The six session series is a fully integrated online and offline event. Most of the concerts will be taped at Hard Rock Live at Universal CityWalk in Orlando, Florida with live audiences. The concerts will be enhanced with interviews and information about the featured artists adding another dimension to the concert experience that CDNOW and Hard Rock will webcast to its 10 million collective customers. Hard Rock Cafe visitors will see clips from the concerts to encourage them to visit http://cdnow.com/hr, and can link to the webcasts from www.hardrock.com. "This is an incredible promotional vehicle for artists and labels for unmatched exposure through Hard Rock Cafe's worldwide and CDNOW's extensive on-line reach," said Chris Tomasso, Senior Director, Marketing and Promotions Hard Rock Cafe International. "Music fans and artists will both be rewarded through this unique partnership."

"The collaboration between CDNOW and Hard Rock Cafe couldn't be a more compatible fit," said Howard Blumenthal, Senior Vice President of Media at CDNOW. "Both companies have similar audiences consisting of loyal music fans between the ages of 25 and 44 who love to buy music. Furthermore, in uniting the strengths of two significant music industry brands we have created a superb series that further emphasizes our commitment to connecting music fans to their favorite artists."

CDNOW will further enhance its partnership with Hard Rock Cafe by creating a co-branded mini boutique. With a click of the mouse, music fans watching webcasts will have easy access to buying CDs by the featured artists, as well as memorabilia and hand picked items relevant to each artist. The CDNOW boutique will also sell coveted Hard Rock merchandise, and visitors to the site will be able to link to www.hardrock.com.


About Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe, celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2001 is one of the most globally recognized music, dining and entertainment brands, with a network of 104 signature cafes in 38 countries and a music memorabilia collection worth in excess of $32 million. Known for collectible and fashion merchandise, live concerts, Hard Rock Live performance venues, the Hard Rock Records music label, hardrock.com, and Hard Rock Hotels and Casinos, Hard Rock Cafe International, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based The Rank Group Plc (Nasdaq: RANKY).

About CDNOW -- Never miss a beat. TM
CDNOW, Inc., a division of Bertelsmann eCommerce Group (BeCG), is the ultimate connection to the world of music. CDNOW sells over 500,000 items including CDs, movies and digital downloads. Music fans can access exclusive artist video interviews, album reviews, expert recommendations and daily music news from allstarä News. CDNOW helps people discover and enjoy music in a personalized environment.
Contact:
CDNOW, Inc, Debby Appelbaum; 215-619-9546; dappelbaum@cdnow.com
Shore Fire Media, Harris Cohen; 718-522-7171; hcohen@shorefire.com
The MWW Group, John Gogarty; 201-964-2464; jgogarty@mww.com
The Hard Rock Cafe; Chris Tomasso; 407-445-7625; chris_tomasso@hardrock.com

View all Hard Rock Cafe Press Releases

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