Mackie Appoints DK Sweet to Director of External Affairs

NAMM • ANAHEIM, CA—JANUARY 16, 2003 – Mackie Designs Inc. (NASDAQ: MKIE), today announced the appointment of DK Sweet to the newly created position of Director of External Affairs. In this role, DK will work to stimulate third-party support and generate positive buzz in appropriate niches the benefit the family of Mackie brands.

"In his previous position as Mackie's artist relations consultant, DK played a crucial role in helping Mackie to penetrate several key market niches," commented Ken Berger, Sr. Vice President of Marketing at Mackie Designs Inc. "DK and I share the belief that success in this industry comes by winning over application and cultural niches one by one. We'll be relying on his proven ability to turn that passionate belief into marketing success."

"My goal is to make Mackie the standard by which our industry measures customer loyalty, peer-to-peer marketing success, and the ability to negotiate disparate customer cultures," commented Sweet, "Ken Berger is assembling one of the best marketing teams Mackie has ever had, and I'm proud and energized to be part of it. I'm really looking forward to this challenge."

David "DK" Sweet is a graduate of San Jose State University where he now serves as an advisor to its Center for Marketing and Community Out Reach Consulting. Sweet has consulted numerous clients in the professional audio industry including E-mu Systems, Line 6, AKG, Neumann, and Capitol Records. Sweet also helped to launch EQ magazine in the late 1980's.

Sweet will be working from his office in San Jose, Calif. and can be reached via telephone at (408)-292-6601 or via email at dksweet@aol.com.

Sweet is married to audio industry publishing veteran Carrie Anderson and has two daughters who think he's "kinda cool" for getting paid to talk with Dr. Dré.

About Mackie
Mackie Designs Inc. is known worldwide as a leading manufacturer and marketer of high-quality, affordable professional audio systems. Mackie products can be found in professional and project recording studios, video and broadcast suites, post production facilities, sound reinforcement applications including churches and nightclubs, retail locations and on major musical tours. Mackie Designs Inc. products are marketed by 54 distributors to more than 100 countries around the world.

Mackie is a registered trademark of Mackie Designs Inc. in the United States and other countries. Dolby and the double-D symbol are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.

For more information please contact: Mackie Designs Inc. * 16220 Wood-Red Road N.E. * Woodinville, WA 98072 * Phone: (425) 487-4333 * Fax: (425) 487-4337 * Internet: www.mackie.com.