e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

[Tinroad]

OT: Sony Music Entertainment Japan Selects Digital Island to Deliver Media-Rich Content to Music Fans Worldwide

http://sf-web1.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/211132261&ticker=isld

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 2001--

Digital Island Accelerates Performance by More Than 30 Percent On Japan's Fifth-Most Visited Web Site and Delivers Content to 160 Million Users Monthly

Digital Island, Inc. (Nasdaq:ISLD) today announced that Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), Inc. (SMEJ) has selected Digital Island's Footprint(R) content delivery service to accelerate the performance of Japan's hottest music entertainment Web site, www.sonymusic.co.jp. SMEJ chose Footprint to speed up the delivery of animations, images, ad banners and other media-rich content, including music downloads, on the Sony Music Online Japan Web site -- Japan's fifth-most trafficked Web site, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.
Without incurring the large capital expenditures of building its own global network infrastructure, SMEJ experienced a 30 percent performance improvement by outsourcing to Digital Island. In addition, by managing what content is cached on the Footprint network, SMEJ further reduced its IT operations costs and can now remain focused on aggressively promoting its record label artists, including Soul Scramble, Ken Hirai, Siam Shade and many other Japanese pop stars.
"At first, we were considering load-balancing to enhance the server performance," said Nobuyuki Suzuki, manager of the Engineering Section at Digital Network Group, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan). "Digital Island's content delivery service proved to be the most efficient option for solving our problem of delivering large amounts of media-rich content."
Footprint also provides SMEJ with a scalable platform to serve the skyrocketing demand for live performances, news and pictures of Japan's biggest music entertainers. Today, 160 million users visit the Web site monthly. Scalability is also critical as more consumers access SMEJ's content through mobile phones, which require superior speed and consistency to alleviate the limited bandwidth capacity of wireless devices.
"Digital Island's content delivery service improves performance, reduces operational costs and drives revenue for Web sites built to serve creative, media-rich content," said Tim Wilson, chief marketing officer, Digital Island. "Sony Music Entertainment's selection of our Footprint service confirms Digital Island as the preferred outsource solution for media and entertainment companies."
Digital Island's Footprint content delivery service stores, or caches, Web content closer to users at the edge of the network to ensure a fast, consistent and reliable online experience. When a consumer requests a Web page, Footprint seamlessly directs the query to the optimal server through Digital Island's patented Best Distributor Selection technology.

About Sony Music Entertainment (Japan)

Founded in 1968, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), Inc. creates and sells musical contents of various forms. It has contracts with many of Japan's most popular artists, including L'Arc-en-Ciel, Ken Hirai, and many more. The company also introduces many musicians abroad to the Japanese audience. The musical categories the company covers are very diversified, covering pop, rock, classical, jazz, and others. Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) has some 1,800 employees as of July 31, 2000. www.sonymusic.co.jp

About Digital Island

Digital Island is the leading provider of managed Internet infrastructure for enterprises that need to give their customers a great Web experience in order to drive e-Business transactions. The company integrates managed hosting, content delivery and network services to bypass Internet congestion and guarantee fast and relevant interactions. Digital Island is headquartered in San Francisco, and its global e-Business delivery network reaches 35 countries. www.digitalisland.net

This release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Important factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, include but are not limited to: the company's short operating history which makes it difficult to predict its future results of operations; the company's history of operating losses and expected future losses which could impede its ability to address the risks and difficulties encountered by companies in new and rapidly evolving markets; the company's future operating results could fluctuate which may cause volatility or a decline in the price of the company's stock; the possibility that the company may not be able to price its services above the overall cost of bandwidth causing its financial results to suffer; and other factors detailed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Note to Editors: Digital Island and Footprint are registered trademarks of Digital Island, Inc.


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CONTACT: Digital Island, Inc.
Laura Stadler, 415/738-4774 (Media)
[e-mail]
Traci McCarty, 415/738-4164 (Investor Relations)
[e-mail]

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA JAPAN INTERNATIONAL ASIA PACIFIC
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ELECTRONIC GAMES/MULTIMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT
INTERNET MUSIC