Gracenote and Pioneer Announce Music Recognition Service for Automobiles

Gracenote CDDB(R) Service Set to Enhance Consumer Electronic Devices Worldwide

    BERKELEY, Calif., May 14 Gracenote (formerly CDDB), a
content delivery platform specializing in music recognition services, today
announced that it is providing its industry standard CDDB Music Recognition
Service(SM) to Pioneer's Japan-based Navigation Systems Department, the
established leader in car electronics products. This agreement enables
Pioneer's Carrozzeria AVIC-H09, AVIC-H07 and AVIC-XH07V models to access
Gracenote's comprehensive global music database and recognition services, and
provide an enhanced music listening experience for Pioneer customers.

    Gracenote will provide an embedded version of the CDDB international
database -- complete with their patented music recognition technology -- that
resides within Pioneer's car navigation system. When a consumer plays a CD,
these products automatically recognize the disc and display the associated
metadata:  the name of the artist, album and song.  For newly released CD's
that are not found on the embedded database, the unit allows consumers to dial
up to a CDDB server via a mobile phone which then returns the associated
metadata to the unit.

    "This is a monumental leap for music fans around the world," said
David Hyman, President of Gracenote.  "Online listeners have come to expect
this service on their PC's, and now people will have it in their cars and
homes."

    "Pioneer consistently leads the charge in the adoption of cutting-edge
technology," said Tamihiko Sudo, Vice President -- MEC, Pioneer Corp. "Our
partnership with Gracenote demonstrates our continuing commitment to provide
our customers with the highest quality products and services on the market."

    Gracenote worked closely with Rainbow Partners, their Japan-based
reseller, and AIM Company Ltd. of Japan, to develop the embedded application
in conjunction with Pioneer. Gracenote CDDB technology makes international
music recognition seamless with multi-character set support that enables
displays in Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana. Yomidata, a Katakana translation
provided by AIM Company Ltd., and delivered via Gracenote, enables the device
to be controlled through voice recognition. The product is expected to ship in
Q3 of 2001.