CDnow's Site Launch with N2K is the Next Step for the Online Music Company.

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 1999--

Explore the Evolution of CDnow with 'The

CDnow Story: Rags to Riches on the Internet'

On May 18, the merged companies of N2K and CDNow (NASDAQ:CDNW) launched their new Web site.

The new site offers more customization, more music categories, and a wide variety of music-related content.

This new site is just another step in a journey that began in 1994 for Jason and Matthew Olim, a journey that's chronicled in Top Floor Publishing's book, "The CDnow Story: Rags to Riches on the Internet" (ISBN 0-9661032-6-2).

The book, written by Jason Olim with Matthew Olim and Peter Kent, traces the beginning of CDnow from a modest site that brought in a total of $387 in revenues in August 1994. (1998 revenues were $56 million.) This is the first book actually written by the new generation of Internet entrepreneurs who made their business happen -- and the story's a little different than you might think! (Most business plans don't mention having to have a football helmet on hand at an industry convention.)

"We wanted to write a book that went beyond the question of 'how it was done,' to the idea of 'how you can do it'," explained co-author Peter Kent. "With that in mind, the Olims explain their strategy for getting and keeping customers, their ideas about online marketing, and what the future holds for the Internet and online commerce."

The CDnow Story can be purchased in any bookstore (list price $19.95), including Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) and BarnesandNoble.com (NYSE: BKS), and can be purchased directly from the publisher's Web site at http://TopFloor.com/cdnow/, or by calling toll-free 800-247-6553. A sample chapter and TOC is available at the above URL.