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

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.'