The Orchard Captures the "Fania Sound"And Begins Digital Distribution Of Famed Salsa Label

Initial Releases Include El Cantante - The Originals And A Man And His Music by Hector Lavoe

New York, NY – August 1, 2007 – The Orchard, a leading digital distributor and marketer of independent music, today announced the signing of an exclusive U.S. marketing and distribution deal with Miami based Emusica Entertainment Group for the legendary Fania label.

Founded in New York City in 1964 and acquired by Emusica in 2005, the influential and historic Fania label transcended the boundaries of traditional Latin music, and for four decades, defined the genres of salsa, boogaloo, Latin R&B, and Afro-Cuban jazz. The peerless Fania catalogue of over 1,300 albums and more than 40 best selling artists includes the iconic Johnny Pacheco, Larry Harlow, Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe, Rubén Blades, Ray Barretto, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente and the "supergroup" The Fania All Stars.

”With a great music brand such as Fania we knew we needed a digital partner who understood the value of our music to our fans,” said Emusica’s President and CEO Stuart Livingston. “We were impressed with The Orchard’s experience in working with other great catalogues as well as its digital marketing and merchandising team,” Livingston added.

Since acquiring Fania, Emusica has re-mastered the label’s catalogue, which is being re-issued using acclaimed artwork produced during the 70's by Izzy Sanabria, Fania’s (then) in-house graphic artist, whose design concepts were central to the label’s compelling style and branding.

"We welcome Emusica and Fania to The Orchard as they join other leading independents from around the world, said Greg Scholl, President and Chief Executive of The Orchard. We are looking forward to focusing our marketing, promotion and selling strengths to the historic Fania catalogue as it is an honor to work such iconic and groundbreaking recordings."

Against the backdrop of the Héctor Lavoe biopic "El Cantante," starring Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony and slated for an August 3rd opening, The Orchard is releasing Héctor Lavoe’s “El Cantante - The Originals” and "A Man and his Music - Héctor Lavoe La Voz." Both albums are supported by a major digital retail, mobile and new media campaign designed and executed by The Orchard that will run from July through August. Other aspects of The Orchard's Fania launch campaign continue through the summer featuring album releases from Willie Colón, La Lupe, Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz, The Fania All Stars, Ray Barretto, Joe Bataan, Tito Puente, and Eddie Palmieri.

About Emusica Entertainment Group
Emusica is a leader in the Latin Music industry. In 2005, Emusica acquired the legendary Fania catalog and quickly began remastering and reissuing many of its original albums. The catalog includes more than 1,300 albums and 11,000 recordings, making it one of the largest in Tropical Music. It features such well known artist as Johnny Pacheco, Celia Cruz, Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe, Ruben Blades, Larry Harlow and the famed Fania All Stars. In addition to Fania, Emusica also owns Kubaney, Protel, SoundMex and Revalu labels. For more information you can visit us at http://www.faniarecords.com .

About The Orchard
The Orchard is a leading digital distributor and marketer of music. The Orchard staffs operations in 27 countries and controls an unparalleled catalogue from 77 countries, thousands of labels, and every conceivable music genre and era. The Orchard supplies music and video to the leading digital music stores and mobile operators throughout the world, and executes global marketing and promotion programs locally, with experts in every music territory managing initiatives tailored to each country's unique dynamic. The Orchard works as a close business partner with its label clients and provides retail sales and marketing, an extensive suite of online promotional programs, synchronization placement, global royalty collection, global publishing administration, and in select cases, co-production investment capital. The Orchard also provides strategic media services to an impressive roster of digital retailers and leading consumer brands, ranging from publishing research, licensing and administration through comprehensive online and offline branding programs. The Orchard was founded over a decade ago as the first company to provide independent artists and labels with broad and fair access to distribution, and takes great pride in its commitment to fair and equal treatment for all labels, regardless of size or location.