The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) and Nielsen SoundScan have confirmed the renewal of their agreement for the supply of Canadian retail sales data. The agreement term is through 2006.

"Over and above the regular flow of retail sales data, the new agreement provides CRIA and its members with the flexibility to establish and market a Canadian national chart system," said CRIA President, Brian Robertson. "The national charts of best selling recordings have never been effectively established in this country and we believe an opportunity exists, both for ourselves and potential sponsors, to replicate the excitement and anticipation that has been well established in other countries. We are currently working closely with television network and syndicated radio partners to launch weekly chart shows in the coming season."

Nielsen SoundScan President, Rob Sisco, noted, "We are pleased to have renewed our agreement with CRIA's major labels. We support and applaud CRIA's endeavours to market the Nielsen SoundScan charts to consumers and thus provide an important promotional vehicle for the entire Canadian recorded music industry. The success of CRIA's efforts in this area will have positive benefits for our other SoundScan clients as well as our retail partners."

Nielsen SoundScan is a service of Nielsen Entertainment. At Nielsen Entertainment, we believe that entertainment drives culture and culture drives consumption, making our comprehensive brand of entertainment intelligence - in film, television, music, book and interactive verticals - key to any consumer-focused business. We serve as strategic partner to top entertainment brands throughout the world and are comprised of the following Nielsen businesses: NRG, EDI, Entertainment Marketing Solutions (EMS), SoundScan, Broadcast Data Systems, Aircheck, Music Control, VideoScan, BookScan, BookData, Interactive Entertainment, ReelResearch and Nielsen Entertainment Solutions. Together, we provide industry insight and consulting services based on our own primary and custom research, strategic analysis, testing, tracking, retail sales measurement, and a broad array of both traditional and emerging technology tools which cater to entertainment creators, developers, marketers, distributors and observers. Nielsen Entertainment is part of VNU, www.vnu.com, a global leader in information services for the media and entertainment industries.

VNU Media Measurement & Information Group is the global leader in information services for the media and entertainment industries. The Group serves the information and marketing needs of television and radio broadcasters, advertisers, agencies, media planners, music companies, publishers, motion-picture studios, distributors and exhibitors, and the Internet industry. VNU is active in more than 100 countries, spread across all continents. VNU employs more than 38,000 people and has annual revenues of more than EUR 4.3 billion. For more information, visit www.vnu.com.

The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) is a non-profit trade association representing the interests of Canadian companies that create, manufacture and market sound recordings. CRIA's membership includes the major record companies, leading independent labels, and all manufacturers of compact discs and tapes. In all they represent 95 per cent of the sound recordings that are manufactured and sold in Canada.