Chatsworth, CA - January 5, 1998 — Sonic Desktop Software, Inc. announced today that the company's SmartSound® For Multimedia software has been awarded a patent by the United States Patent Office on December 2, 1997. Patent No. 5,693,902 provides intellectual property rights to Sonic Desktop Software, Inc. for the process of compiling and manipulating a sequence of digital audio segments (or blocks) to fit a duration that is described by the user.

The Patent application was originally filed by Sonic Desktop principals Geoffrey C. Hufford, Christopher P. Hufford and Kevin C. Klingler in September 1995. Sonic Desktop received a notice of allowance of a pending patent in May 1997. The company has additional U.S. and Foreign patent applications pending.

"The issuance of this patent signifies the uniqueness of our underlying technology in the industry," said Kevin C. Klingler, president and CEO. "This patent expands and solidifies our leadership position in supplying music soundtrack creation tools to our customers and strategic partners."

Sonic Desktop Software, The Soundtrack Company™, is the developer and marketer of the SmartSound family of audio software products that help the typical computer user create customized, professional-quality soundtracks quickly and easily. Users can build their customized soundtracks with either SmartSound's Maestro (wizard) or unique SmartBlocks™ drag-and-drop editor. SmartSound comes with a built-in library of royalty-free, movie-quality source files written and performed by top Hollywood professionals. The company's products are available for Windows NT, 95, Macintosh and Power Macintosh platforms and include SmartSound® For Multimedia , and the SmartSound Audio Palette series of music and sound effects library add-ons, including recently released Maximum Action high-energy audio CD.

The company is headquartered in Chatsworth, a northwest suburb of Los Angeles, California and can be reached at 818-920-9122, fax: 818-920-9152, sales: 800-454-1900 or visit the company's website at www.smartsound.com for additional information.