PHOENIX, May 12, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- ViaStar Media Corporation (OTCBB:VISH) announced today that the Company has completed its acquisition of Masterdisk Corporation, one of the world's leading audio, video and multimedia mastering facilities. This acquisition establishes ViaStar as a leading production vendor for the likes of Universal Music Group, BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI and Sony Music Group as well as a myriad of independent music labels and artists. For ViaStar's shareholders, Masterdisk adds significantly to the company's revenues, as well as positioning for further expansion through acquisitions and distribution of new and branded content.
Established in 1973 as a part of PolyGram Records, Masterdisk has since been a part of more than 13,000 releases. The Company has been an industry leader in CD and DVD preparation, authoring and mastering for over 31 years and features an experienced, world-class staff of engineers and media professionals which includes Howie Weinberg, Tony Dawsey, Andy VanDette, Roger Lian and Dave Kutch. The staffs' long list of credentials span every possible music genre and include such platinum artists as Sheryl Crow, U2, Mariah Carey, The Ramones, Outkast, Smashing Pumpkins, Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Whitney Houston, Kid Rock, P.J. Harvey, Rush, Korn, The Cult, The Cure, Creed, Def Leppard, Garbage, Helmet, Moby, Prince, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Santana, Soundgarden, Madonna, DMX, Jay-Z, Foxy Brown, Al Green, KRS-One, Miami Sound Machine, Nine Inch Nails, The Rolling Stones, Queen Latifa, Deep Purple, The Beastie Boys, David Bowie, Richard Marx, Toni Braxton, Britney Spears, Blues Traveler, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, R.E.M, Bruce Springsteen, Faith Hill, Slayer, LL Cool J, Eminem, Limp Biskit, Christina Aguilera, Everlast, Faith Evans, Monster Magnet, Ben Folds Five and Cheap Trick to name a few.
Based near the heart of Times Square, Masterdisk's 15,000 square foot facility includes seven of the world's finest mastering suites, including two 5.1 surround rooms, four vinyl cutting lathes, full DVD authoring, encoding and quality control and a complete graphic and animation department. Masterdisk has long been a pioneer in the entertainment industry offering its customers state of the art technologies such as DVD authoring, multi-channel 5.1 mastering, Web-enabled DVD as well as being the first mastering facility in the United States to offer a fully integrated digital console. Masterdisk is a world class facility, producing hundreds of gold and platinum albums which have resulted in countless Grammy and TEC Awards.
In becoming part of ViaStar, Masterdisk Corporation is now the first facility of its kind to be a true "one-stop" for its customers. Through ViaStar's Distribution Group, Masterdisk will provide full service marketing and international mainstream distribution to its enormous client base by offering direct retail distribution to over 22,000 retail locations worldwide including Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Tower Records, Sam Goody, Kmart, Virgin Megastores, Trans World, Wherehouse, and Musicland among others. Masterdisk will, for the first time in its history, have the opportunity to participate in the long term revenue potential of the titles and artist they provide services for.
Masterdisk CEO, Doug Levine, stated, "You're either moving forward or moving backward. Being acquired by ViaStar is definitely taking a bold step forward for Masterdisk. This is a business model I embraced prior to our marriage. Masterdisk now offers "soup to nuts" services helping our clients produce great content and ultimately get it into the hands of their audience. We look forward to building a dynamic company as part of the ViaStar family."
ViaStar expects the acquisition of Masterdisk to provide the Company access to a huge array of additional content and revenue resources for ViaStar's music group and distribution business. With the recent changes and consolidations throughout the music industry, ViaStar believes that the revenue potential to be garnered from the tremendous client base and direct access to branded artists and labels will significantly accelerate the Company's business.
"It is an honor for us to have Masterdisk join our family as we define the next generation of the entertainment industry," stated ViaStar CEO John D. Aquilino. "The ability to provide state of the art production and partake in the enormous and successful existing client base of Masterdisk will substantially increase our shareholder's value through this single event. This takes us one large step closer to fulfilling our company's vision as the next evolution of the independent entertainment/media company and immediately thrust ViaStar into the consciousness of our industry's upper-echelon."
For more information visit Masterdisk's web site at http://www.masterdisk.com
For more information visit ViaStar's web site at http://www.viastarcorp.com/
About ViaStar:
ViaStar Media Corporation is engaged in development, production and distribution of entertainment related media for music, film, television, and publishing interests. The Company's portfolio currently includes ownership of ViaStar Distribution Group, A.V.O. Studios, Moving Pictures International, ViaStar Records, Quadra Records, Light of the Spirit Records, and ViaStar Classical, ViaStar Artist Management Group and Masterdisk Corporation.
Except historical matter contained herein, matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties, which may affect the Company's business and prospects and cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements.