Musician's Friend Wins Top Honors

As the company caps off a yearlong 25th anniversary celebration, Musician's Friend, Inc (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/) (MF), the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments and gear in the U.S., and a division of Guitar Center since 1999, has been recognized with top honors by two prominent online retailer authorities in their annual rankings.

First, the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide (2009 Edition) was recently released online, and MusiciansFriend.com is ranked #1 in the Specialty and Non-Apparel category for the second consecutive year. In the same publication, MusiciansFriend.com's ranking rose from #39 to #36 among all domestic retail sites. Internet Retailer's definitive ranking and analysis of America's 500 largest e-retailers is based on annual 2008 Internet sales, researched by Internet Retailer and confirmed by retailers. This report includes company financial, operational, and performance data, as well as vendors in key categories.

Second, MusiciansFriend.com won the top award (Gold) in the Web Computer/Electronics category in the 24th Annual Multichannel Merchant (MCM) Awards. The awards were announced during a special luncheon at the 2009 ACCM (Annual Conference for Catalog and Multichannel Merchants) Show in New Orleans on May 6. This is the third year in a row that MusiciansFriend.com has been recognized by MCM (Gold in 2007 and Silver in 2008). MCM Awards finalists and winners are evaluated by a panel of industry experts through a series of three judging sessions - a prescreening, in-home evaluations, and a final judging session. Print and Web Channel entries are evaluated on creative, merchandising, copy, customer service/navigation and marketing execution. Cross Channel entries are evaluated on the synergy between channels and results.

"It is a distinct honor to be acknowledged by these two organizations," stated Musician's Friend Chief Executive Officer Craig Johnson. "Everyone at MF works extremely hard to provide our customers with the best at-home catalog and e-commerce shopping experience. To be recognized by these industry experts is one of the biggest compliments we could receive."

About Musician's Friend Musician's Friend, Inc., is the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments in the U.S. Through marketing and merchandising music products in their catalog and on their web site, www.musiciansfriend.com, the company offers customers a complete selection of guitars (http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/), basses, DJ equipment (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/dj), band and orchestra instruments, sound reinforcement (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/live), amps and effect pedals, recording equipment (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/rec), keyboards, drums and percussion equipment (http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/), and associated musical accessories. In addition to an assortment of more than 70,000 products, the Musician's Friend website offers in-depth buying guides, tech tips, videos, expert gear reviews, artist interviews, and a half-million unbiased gear reviews and ratings written by customers.

With their corporate office is based in Medford, Oregon, Musician's Friend also maintains a contact center/customer service operation based in Draper, Utah (a suburb of Salt Lake City), a state-of-the-art distribution center in Kansas City, Missouri, and The Woodwind and Brasswind, a band and orchestra division and retail store in South Bend, Indiana.

Musician's Friend is a wholly owned subsidiary of Guitar Center, the nation's leading retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards, live-sound/DJ and recording equipment. Other brand or product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

About Internet Retailer Published by Chicago-based Vertical Web Media LLC, Internet Retailer is a monthly national business magazine that is at the core of an e-commerce conference and four directories that serve the retailing community. The Internet Retailer family of products focuses on the Internet's vital role in a wide array of retailing activities, including web merchandising, supply chain management and multichannel integration. Its 42,500 subscribers are senior executives primarily from retail chains, independent stores, catalogs, virtual merchants and brand name manufacturers. Internet Retailer's circulation represents the largest multichannel readership base of any retailing magazine. The magazine also publishes the most widely read e-mail newsletter in retailing, IRNewsLink, which is distributed four times a week to 30,000+ opt-in subscribers, operates the largest retailing information website, InternetRetailer.com, sponsors the largest conference in the e-retailing industry and publishes an annual ranking of the 500 largest web sites.

About the MCM Awards The MCM Awards are the industry's top honors for b-to-b and b-to-c multichannel marketers. Formerly the Annual Catalog Awards and the I.Merchant Awards, the MCM Awards continue the tradition of recognizing superior print catalogs and Websites from around the globe. Gold and Silver awards are given out for quality in both print and Web. Cross Channel entries are eligible for Business-to-Business Multichannel Merchant of the Year and Consumer Multichannel Merchant of the Year honors.

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