For Immediate Release:
SILENCE IS NOT GOLDEN A Quarter Million Independent Recording Artists Silenced MP3.COM To Go Dark On December 2
40 Million Subscribers Stranded
SAN DIEGO - Over 250,000 independent recording artists will be abandoned next week when MP3.com goes dark on December 2. MP3.com was acquired ten days ago by San Francisco based C-Net. The company has announced it will scrub MP3.com's servers of all content at midnight next Tuesday. The move will strand some 40 million MP3.com subscribers worldwide.
MP3.com made its mark as "the world's largest internet music community." With 40 million subscribers, the system has been regarded as the largest internet music system in the world.
"It's been a powerful force," says Johnny Jolin, lead singer for The Front Porch Country Band. With a million plays, his band became the most listened-to country recording artist in the world over the last 15 months on the giant internet system. "MP3.com enabled our music to compete on a level playing field with the world's greatest country legends."
His band has seen a dozen of their original songs climb to Number One in the world on the MP3.com charts, where 1.6 million songs compete for chart position every day in overnight rankings. That international exposure brought The Front Porch Country Band to the attention of The US-CHINA Foundation last fall. Earlier this spring, the band accepted the foundation's invitation for a fully-paid tour as stadium headliners through China's largest cities – a huge career break for the band.
Major stars including Kenny Rogers, Faith Hill, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Nickel Creek and Alison Krauss & Union Station also currently offer their music on their official MP3.com sites.
MP3.com was the brain-child of Michael Robertson, who launched the company in 1997. Featuring a blend of major and independent artists, the site quickly took off. By 2000, MP3.com had amassed 40 million subscribers – featuring 1.6 million songs by over 250,000 recording artists available to music listeners worldwide. In 2001, the company was sold to global media giant Vivendi Universal. Vivendi sold the company to C-Net on November 14th.
But next week, the system goes dark. Where will those 250,000 recording artists and 40 million music subscribers head next?
F***-se!!!!!!!!!!!
Depois da extinção do Napster, só nos faltava mais esta... Seja como for, a luta continua!!!!!!! 
