Over 100 Million HDCD Compact Discs Sold
Friday, January 08, 1999. Press Release

Sales Growth Fueled By Recent Platinum Certifications for HDCD CDs By Jewel, Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks

LAS VEGAS--Jan. 8, 1999--At the 1999 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Pacific Microsonics announced today that the Recording Industry Association of America's recent platinum certifications for HDCD® recordings by Jewel, Bruce Springsteen, and Garth Brooks has increased the total number of HDCD encoded Compact Discs sold to over 100 million.

Released in November 1998, Spirit by Jewel from Atlantic Records, Garth Brooks' Double Live from Capitol/EMI, and Bruce Springsteen's Tracks box set from Columbia were all certified platinum in December 1998.

The 100 million HDCD encoded CDs sold come from a library of over 2,000 different HDCD recordings available in music retail stores worldwide such as Tower, Virgin, and HMV, and on internet music sites such as CDNow, Music Boulevard and Amazon. HDCD recordings have been released by over 200 record labels around the world including BMG, EMI, Polygram, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros.

``This is great news for consumer electronics manufacturers because it means that many consumers purchasing HDCD-equipped CD players, DVD players, and A/V receivers will already own HDCD encoded CDs and can immediately enjoy the amazing sound quality that decoded HDCD recordings produce,'' said Andy Johnson, Vice President of Marketing for Pacific Microsonics. ``We continue to see strong demand for HDCD encoders from top mastering studios and as a result, we expect about 2,000 - 2,500 more HDCD titles will be released in 1999.'' HDCD recordings are prominent on all of Billboard's music charts of top selling recordings. Titles appearing on the Billboard Top 200 chart in 1998 include: Paula Cole: This Fire, John Mellencamp: John Mellencamp, Babyface: Christmas With Babyface, Keb' Mo': Slow Down, Natalie Merchant: Ophelia, Hootie & The Blowfish: Musical Chairs, 311: Transistor, Bee Gees: One Night Only, Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, Green Day: Nimrod, Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band: Trouble Is, Dixie Chicks: Wide Open Spaces, and City Of Angels and Wedding Singer Vol. 2 soundtracks.