MALIBU, CA, January 19th, 2006 - ILIO is pleased to announce the inaugural presentation of the ILIO Rocket Awards, recognizing forward-thinking ILIO retailers who have distinguished themselves by posting the highest percentage sales gains of ILIO distributed product in 2005. The awards will be presented during the Winter NAMM convention in Anaheim in the ILIO booth (Hall A, 6724).

Winners are awarded in three retail store categories: Chain Stores, Independent Stores (with three or fewer locations) and Internet/Mail-Order retailers. In the Chain Store category, the highest percentage sales growth of 2005 was posted by Guitar Center, headquartered in Westlake Village, CA. The Independent Store category winner was Professional Audio Solutions of Nashville, TN. In the Internet/Mail-Order category, the winner was Sweetwater Sound of Fort Wayne, IN.

"We thought it was about time we recognized the efforts of these outstanding retailers who really got behind our products and helped us achieve our best year ever in sales," says Mark Hiskey, Managing Director of ILIO. Retail Sales Manager Brad Strickland adds, "It's not enough to have great products. Our retail sales partners provide the outreach necessary to make our manufacturer's products successful in this competitive industry. We just wanted to acknowledge them and express our gratitude for their efforts."

ILIO is the exclusive North American distributor for Spectrasonics (Stylus RMX, Atmosphere, Trilogy), the Vienna Symphonic Library (Vienna Instruments, Symphonic Cube), Synthogy (Ivory Grand Pianos), and Applied Acoustics Systems (Tassman, Lounge Lizard, Ultra Analog, String Studio), all of whom are makers of premium virtual instrument plug-ins for professional musicians.