AudioCatalyst MP3 Encoder Enters Retail

Mixman® Technologies Inc. and Xing Technology Corporation today announced an affiliate relationship in which Mixman will distribute Xing Technology's AudioCatalyst, the first software available to retail consumers who wish to create and compress their own music into MP3 files, the wildly popular compression format that has transformed the digital audio industry.

The retail software product, the result of a partnership with Xing Technology Corporation, includes AudioGrabber "ripping" technology that lets consumers extract and encode music tracks from their own audio CDs and instantly transfer them to the Internet or into portable MP3 players such as the Diamond Rio and Creative Nomad.

"MP3 is exploding into the mainstream," explained Eric Almgren, CEO of Mixman, "but until now, consumers had no complete solution for creating and distributing their own music over the Internet." Almgren is looking beyond the estimated four million Internet users who are currently downloading pre-recorded MP3 files to the professional and semi-professional musicians who are making the next generation of hits. "Essentially, there are thousands of hobbyists and music enthusiasts discovering the power of this new distribution model. We plan to provide them with the tools they need to bring their music to a new audience."

For years, Mixman has provided these digital artists with software products like Mixman Studio, a musical technology which allows people to record, remix, and customize professional audio samples from leading record producers including the hip-hop label Tommy Boy and funk master George Clinton. MP3 has quickly become the Internet's standard for high quality audio distribution but there is no encoding software available in retail stores. AudioCatalyst 2.0 is the result of Xing's industry-leading MP3 expertise, earned in developing a 95% market share of the Internet download market, making AudioCatalyst a proven standard, ready for retail.

"It was a perfect match. Mixman has established a successful consumer market for music software in the retail channel, " said Hassan Miah, President and CEO for Xing Technologies, "With the addition of AudioCatalyst, musicians now have a simple, all-in-one solution for creating and encoding MP3 files. Literally, anyone can make and distribute digital-quality music from their PC and personal MP3 players."