PAVAROTTI TO CROWN RECORD YEAR FOR MTG-OWNED NORDIC ARTIST COMPANY The MTG company Nordic Artist, which recently announced that it will arrange a unique Pavarotti concert in Sweden in the summer of 1999, has completed a record period in terms of public attending the company's events. The concerts during the one week of 26 October - 1 November, with music by Björn & Benny, the appearance of Julio Iglesias and five Mozart Requiems, represented the largest public that Nordic Artist has ever attracted to its concerts. December too looks like being a successful month for Nordic Artist. The company produced the concerts with Electric Banana Band at Stockholm Globe Arena on 5 December. Because of the major interest, an extra concert was inserted the same evening so that yet more could have the opportunity of enjoying such artists as Lasse Åberg, Classe Möllberg and Janne Schaffer. Barbara Hendricks is again attracting large audiences with her Christmas concerts on 18 and 19 December in Gothenburg and Stockholm. Nordic Artist is currently experiencing strong foreign interest in the company's products. "We have inquiries for the Björn & Benny Production from Germany, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK and China," says Johan Englund, president and founder. Nordic Artist was founded in 1991. The company operates in the culture sector and produces arena-format concerts. It also plans and implements tours, TV productions and record recordings. What distinguishes Nordic Artist from other promoters is that it produces much of its performances in-house. That means that Nordic Artist, as opposed to its competitors, owns the rights to its in-house produced concepts such as B & B and West End. Prominent events on the Nordic Artist label include concerts with José Carreras, Barbara Hendricks and Kiri Te Kanawa. The company was also behind musical artist Peter Jöback's Sweden tour in January, West End - A London Musical Night, Broadway - A New York Musical Night, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Palace Gala at Royal Ulriksdal '97, ClassicRock '98 including Art Garfunkel and the Electric Light Orchestra, and the Julio Iglesias concert at Stockholm Globe on 26 October. Opera soprano Barbara Hendricks will appear at the Gothenburg Scandinavium on 18 December and at the Stockholm Globe on 19 December. The world-famous artist will also appear in Helsinki (11 December), at an internal company event for VAG (12 December), in London (14 December) and in Copenhagen on 16 December. In 1995 Barbara Hendricks set the Nordic record for classical music indoors when she attracted an audience of 13,200 to the Stockholm Globe for her Christmas Concert produced by Nordic Artists. "I'm looking forward to returning to Sweden at Christmas time. The Christmas traditions are enchanting and I love the music at that time of the year," says Barbara Hendricks. In the summer of 1999 Nordic Artist will arrange one of the most spectacular concerts ever. On 16 June Luciano Pavarotti will sing at the Stockholm Stadium, backed up by 80 musicians of the Stockholm Sinfonietta and the several hundred strong voices of the World Festival Choir. This is the first time in ten years that Pavarotti will sing solo in Sweden. Nordic Artist has over the years developed its own marketing methods that benefit trade and industry. Companies thereby obtain access to artistic events implemented by Nordic Artist, enabling them to obtain broad exposure for their company brand names and opportunities to build up relationships with clients and staff. Collaboration with Nordic Artist on a consultant basis furthermore provides companies with professional artistic insights and experience. This has resulted in Nordic Artist producing in-house events on a commissioned basis for companies such as Svenska Spel, VAG and OM. "In our work of consolidating our grip on the rapidly growing market for pleasure consumption, it is of course a considerable asset to be part of MTG," says Johan Englund. "Not only does the media environment stimulate new products and production ideas but it also inspires the exploitation of alternative aspects of the same product - not just 'doing' a concert but also a CD, a TV program, etc." For further information, please visit www.mtg.se, or email info@mtg.se or contact: Hans-Holger Albrecht, President & CEO tel: +46 8 562 000 50 Matthew Hooper, Investor & Press Relations tel: +44 20 7321 5010 Modern Times Group MTG AB has seven business areas: Viasat Broadcasting (free-to-air and pay TV channels in nine countries), Radio (seven networks in five countries), New Media (the Everyday interactive TV portal, Internet portal, Mobile portal, and teletext services), Publishing (financial news and information services), Modern Interactive (home shopping, e-commerce, and logistics), SDI Media (subtitling and dubbing services), and Modern Studios (content production and library). Modern Times Group MTG AB's class A and B shares are listed on the Stockholmsbörsen O-list (symbols: MTGA and MTGB) and on the Nasdaq National Market in New York (symbol: MTGNY). MODERN TIMES GROUP MTG AB Skeppsbron 18, Box 2094, SE-103 13 Stockholm, Sweden Tel. +46 8 562 000 50 Fax. +46 8 20 50 74 (Publ) Registration No. 556309- 9158 www.mtg.se ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/01/07/20040107BIT00100/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/01/07/20040107BIT00100/wkr0002.pdf