ARTISTdirect Records Signs Smilez & Northstar.

Business Editors & Entertainment Writers

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 2002

Ted Field, CEO of ARTISTdirect, announces the signing of Smilez & Northstar to the ARTISTdirect Records label. The Orlando-based hip-hop duo's debut album, tentatively entitled "Crash the Party," will be produced by Dakari, and released in Spring, 2002. Their first single, "Who Wants This" will be delivered to urban and crossover radio in February.

Dakari brought Smilez & Northstar together after seeing each of them perform separately in Orlando clubs. "There was an immediate and powerful chemistry between the two of them," said the producer. "From day one in the studio, everything felt great, everything just happened and flowed and worked. We wrote two songs on that first day." Dakari, a Boston native who produced local hip hop and R&B artists before joining Transcontinental Records, has worked with *NSYNC, O-Town, and LFO.

With "Who Wants This," Smilez & Northstar have already established a solid base at Florida urban radio that began at the underground level. Over the past four months, the buzz has spread to airplay on commercial urban/hip-hop stations. WBTT in Ft. Myers put "Who Wants This" up against Ludacris' "Roll Out" in an on-air battle, and "Who Wants This" won hands down. "When we booked Smilez & Northstar on WBTT's Erotic Exotic Ball and Jingle Ball concerts," added Gilbert Alvarez, co-manager of the duo, "they just blew the other bands off the stage. And when WBTT's Bo Mathews, who has supported this record from the beginning, officially added it to the station's playlist in Radio & Records, that put us on the map and got most of the major record labels interested in us."

Smilez & Northstar, Dakari, and the duo's StreetDwellaz management/marketing team, decided to sign with ARTISTdirect Records in large part for the opportunity to work with Ted Field. "Ted's experience and success with artists like Dr. Dre, Eminem and Snoop Dogg was an ideal situation for us," commented Alfonso Alvarez, co-manager of the duo. "If anyone can take Smilez & Northstar where they want to be, it's Ted Field."

About ARTISTdirect Records

ARTISTdirect Records is a co-venture between ARTISTdirect, Inc. and Ted Field, one of the most successful executives in the entertainment industry. Launched in the summer of 2001, ARTISTdirect Records' talent roster includes a diverse range of hip-hop, rap, alternative, and rock artists such as Custom, NAAM Brigade, The Blood Brothers, Mad at Gravity, and Pokafase. ARTISTdirect Records has a distribution agreement in North America with BMG, who also has a license for territories around the globe. ARTISTdirect Records is affiliated with ARTISTdirect, Inc. (Nasdaq:ARTD), a music and media company that combines an online music network with integrated offline assets to provide a single-stop solution for music fans, artists, labels, and advertisers.