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DMOD Delivers “American Idol” In Record Time

DMOD Inc., a provider of secure digital media workflow and distribution solutions for the media and communications industry, announced that RCA Records

DMOD Inc., a provider of secure digital media workflow anddistribution solutions for the media and communications industry,announced that RCA Records and eight business partners used the DMODWorkSpace to reduce production time for the two singles from the TVshow American Idol, will hits stores today. DMOD was also usedto streamline production of the Top 10 finalist compilation CD, set forrelease October 1.

The DMOD WorkSpace allowed RCA and project team members dispersedacross seven cities on two continents to securely share pristine,uncompressed audio files via Internet during mixing, mastering,manufacturing and radio distribution — in nine days. This helpedsignificantly reduce overall project costs by eliminating delivery andcourier fees and reducing travel expenses.

“Quick and secure turnaround was pivotal in positioning us toconvert American Idol‘s popularity into actual CD sales, and wecouldn’t have done it without DMOD,” said Steve Ferrera, VP of A&Rfor RCA Records and producer of the American Idol music. “Movingfrom mixing to manufacturing in nine days is unprecedented. For RCA,this is the first example of a secure, end-to-end digital workflowbecause media was transferred digitally, not only during production,but to manufacturing, duplication and distribution to radio, aswell.”

“The American Idol project exemplifies DMOD’s value instreamlining the entire production and distribution process in additionto the A&R review process,” said Christa Haussler, VP of newtechnology for BMG. “The DMOD WorkSpace offers the potential tooptimize our workflow and drive significant time and cost savings,while controlling access to our content.”

How “American Idol” Team Used DMOD
RCA’s American Idol production team had to wait along with therest of the nation until 9:50 p.m. ET on September 4 to discover whowould be voted the show’s winner and signed to a recording contract.Over the course of Labor Day weekend, 15 tracks for the compilation CDwere DMOD’ed from London to New York and to L.A., as they moved throughthe review and approval cycle.

From Saturday, August 31, through Wednesday, September 4, tracks ofthe two finalist singles were DMOD’ed from city to city repeatedly asvarious partners mixed, reviewed and delivered tracks to New York-basedSterling Sound for final mastering. In one instance, Sterling Sound wasable to begin the mastering of one single just 15 minutes after the mixwas completed in Miami.

On Thursday, September 5, at 10 a.m., Sterling Sound began finalmastering on the winner’s CD. By 2:00 p.m., the master was complete andthe files were DMOD’ed to the Sonipress manufacturing plant. By closeof business on Friday, two days after the winner was declared, 500,000copies of winner’s single were ready for distribution to retailoutlets.

Collaborators who used DMOD to produce American Idol musicincluded Nearly Perfect Productions, a recording facility in London,that mixed the compilation album; 19 Entertainment, co-producer of theAmerican Idol TV program, based in London; Westlake Audio in LosAngeles that mixed finalist Justin Guarini’s single; DestinEntertainment, a recording studio in Miami, that mixed winner KellyClarkson’s single; Sterling Sound in New York City; Broadcast DataSystems (BDS), a digital fingerprinting and monitoring service inKansas City, Mo.; DG Systems, a radio distribution firm in Dallas; andSonipress, a CD-manufacturing facility in Weaverville, N.C., thatproduced the two singles.

For more information on DMOD, visit www.dmod.com.

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