THE HIT FACTORY CRITERIA GETS A HIGH-TECH MAKEOVER FROM GUITAR CENTER PROFESSIONAL

-- One of the world's greatest recording facilities turns to Guitar Center
Professional to
"future-proof" its key components, with new Pro Tools HD5 systems in all five
studios --

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, March 5, 2008 - The Hit Factory Criteria is the studio that
has given the world massive hit records from such artists as the Eagles, Madonna,
Eric Clapton, the Bee Gees, REM and Aretha Franklin (to name a few), and it
continues to work with upper-tier contemporary hit-makers including Jay-Z, Chris
Brown and Mary J. Blige. As the studio celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year, it
also celebrates a comprehensive upgrading of its key recording systems. Seeking to
"future-proof" itself for the next generation of hits, The Hit Factory Criteria
turned to Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar
Center that focuses on the needs of professional users; Mark Ruffolo, Accounts
Manager for GC Pro, Florida, handled the sale with personalized, one-on-one
consulting. All five studios at The Hit Factory Criteria had their Digidesign Pro
Tools systems upgraded to Pro Tools HD5's with Apple 30" Cinema Displays. The
upgrades included five Digidesign EB7 expansion chassis and a dozen of Digidesign's
powerful Massive Pack 6 plug-in bundles. In addition, the in-studio routing system
was upgraded from PCI-X to PCIe, vastly increasing throughput facility-wide.

"Increasing the speed of data flow in the facility was especially important since
many of our clients are working on multiple projects simultaneously," explains
Trevor Fletcher, Vice President and General Manager of The Hit Factory Criteria. "It
was really all about future-proofing the facility, to keep us at the top of a very
competitive game and allow us to continue to provide our clientele with the
technology and service they expect."

GC Pro's input went well beyond simply selling gear; implementing such a significant
upgrade without interrupting client work was a challenge, one that Ruffolo helped
The Hit Factory Criteria meet. In addition to new equipment, including five new
Apple MacPro Quad-Core computers, the studio also had to change over from SCSI
drives to internal SATAII drives and quad 250-GB Glyph FireWire drives. Stated
Fletcher, "The technology migration was in many ways a challenge to our staff; we
had to install it while the studio was very heavily booked. GC Pro helped us with
advice and know-how, such as making sure the vendors supplied us with the latest
software and firmware for every bit of equipment. They also ensured the
standardization of all the systems in terms of our plug-in compliments."

As The Hit Factory Criteria implemented its upgrades, sessions for high-level
producers including Timbaland and DanjaHandz continued uninterrupted. "We've had a
long and close relationship with The Hit Factory Criteria, and that helped build a
trust in us that we could help them through a comprehensive upgrade and not disrupt
the studio's ongoing work," commented Ruffolo. "A lot of companies can offer
competitive prices, but GC Pro offers our customers a level of service that can't be
found anywhere else."

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