Wednesday January 6, 1999

Company Press Release

SoundScan 1998 Year-End Music Industry Report

SoundScan, the entertainment industry's data information system which tracks point-of-purchase sales of recorded music product, has announced its 1998 year-end sales research data as follows:

                     1998 TOP TEN SELLING ALBUMS
                          (12/29/97 - 1/3/99)

         Title / Artist                              Units Sold
         1.  Titanic  / Soundtrack                   9,338,061
         2.  Let's Talk About Love / Celine Dion     5,859,421
         3.  Backstreet Boys / Backstreet Boys       5,709,369
         4.  Come On Over / Shania Twain             4,872,841
         5.  N-Sync / N-Sync                         4,385,148
         6.  City of Angels / Soundtrack             4,120,508
         7.  Double Live / Garth Brooks              3,892,288
         8.  Big Willie Style / Will Smith           3,687,568
         9.  Savage Garden / Savage Garden           3,247,406
         10. Armageddon / Soundtrack                 3,222,603

             1998 YEAR-TO-DATE RECORD COMPANY MARKET SHARE
                          (12/29/97 - 1/3/99)

Total Albums            Current Albums          Singles
(Catalog &
Current Titles)
        1998   1997             1998    1997            1998   1997
        ----   ----             ----    ----            ----   ----
WEA    18.20 % 18.86 %  WEA    17.25 % 17.62 %  WEA    18.46 % 21.50 %
BMG    12.21 % 11.80 %  BMG    14.40 % 14.21 %  BMG    27.06 % 27.57 %
UNI    10.45 % 12.13 %  UNI    10.82 % 13.34 %  UNI     6.29 %  6.64 %
PGD    14.03 % 13.04 %  PGD    13.34 % 11.88 %  PGD    17.00 % 20.04 %
EMD    12.95 % 12.55 %  EMD    13.52 % 13.68 %  EMD     8.14 %  8.46 %
SONY   16.57 % 13.69 %  SONY   17.45 % 13.04 %  SONY   16.67 %  8.58 %
OTHERS 15.58 % 17.90 %  OTHERS 13.21 % 16.24 %  OTHERS  6.39 %  7.20 %

                        1998 GENRE SALES REPORT
                         (12/29/97 - 12/27/98)

                               Album Units Sold
         Genre                 1998     1997
         ------                ----     ----
 (Note: Titles may appear in more than one genre)

-        Alternative        113,476  106,690
-        Classical           16,603   19,148
-        Country             72,605   70,702
-        Gospel               5,797    6,718
-        Jazz                17,752   20,042
-        Latin               15,575   13,214
-        Metal               29,334   28,983
-        New Age              7,090    9,272
-        R&B                161,899  141,613
-        Rap                 81,262   61,709
-        Soundtrack          61,456   45,044

                           TOTAL ALBUM SALES
                         (12/29/97 - 12/27/98)
                  Includes Catalog And Current Titles

                        1998                       1997
                        ----                       ----
 Albums        711.0 Million              651.8 Million
    CDs        578.3 Million              504.6 Million
    Cassettes  130.8 Million              145.9 Million
    Other        1.9 Million                1.3 Million


Contact:
     Scoop Marketing
     Larry Solters or Bonnie Poindexter, 310/360-6060