Hal Leonard & Sibelius team up to take digital publishing to a new level

New technology to be featured on sheetmusicdirect.com

Hal Leonard Corporation, the world's largest music print publisher, has entered into an agreement with Sibelius.com to license their innovative Internet enabling technology. This announcement was made by Hal Leonard President Larry Morton and Bill Reilly, COO of Sibelius' North American Operations.

The Sibelius® Internet enabling technology provides not only the secure delivery of sheet music files over the Internet, but also allows anyone on the web to view music, transpose keys and play scores in the Sibelius file format, using Sibelius' free downloadable viewer Scorch®.

Comments Morton, "When we began exploring options for the digital delivery of our songs, we thoroughly evaluated all of the available technologies, and concluded that Sibelius would offer our customers by far the most flexibility, in the most user-friendly format. As more and more musicians, publishers and educational institutions come on board, Sibelius is fast becoming the new industry standard. It's going to make our sheet music much more fun to interact with, easier to use, and quicker to download. We feel that this collaboration is a natural for our two companies, and we're excited about the myriad of possibilities that lie ahead."

"Sibelius is pleased to be forming this important strategic alliance with the industry leader in print music publishing," says Reilly."Since founding Sibelius, brothers Ben and Jonathan Finn have designed technology that empowers musicians, and we are gratified to know that our products not only enhance music notation itself, but also provide musicians with a powerful tool that aids in their creative process. Our Internet enabling technology takes this commitment to the next level; with this technology and Hal Leonard's enormous selection of songs, musicians all over the world will have easy access to the musical score of their choice, in the most widely used and flexible file format available."

In January 2001, Hal Leonard will make the first 5,000 songs from its vast catalog available on sheetmusicdirect.com in the Sibelius format. This website, the Internet's leading destination for downloading sheet music, is a joint venture between Hal Leonard and London-based music print publisher Music Sales Ltd. The sheetmusicdirect.com Dealer Affiliate Program that Hal Leonard offers further expands the reach of this service, enabling customers of nearly 1,000 music retailers to download songs in-store or online. Talks have also begun to allow access to the Sibelius technology and Hal Leonard content from other popular music websites.

Notes to editors

Founded in 1947, Hal Leonard Corporation (www.halleonard.com) is the leader in the music print industry, producing songbooks, sheet music, educational publications, reference books, videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs, children's music products and more. The company represents in print some of the world's best known and most respected publishers, artists, writers and arrangers. Hal Leonard is headquartered in Milwaukee, WI and also has offices in New York, Winona, MN, Melbourne, Hong Kong and London.