archives

o Emusic.com To Offer Monthly Subscription Fee For Downloadable Music
o RioPort Raises $31.5 Million in Second Round
o Hollywood.com, CinemaNow Form Independent Film Service
o ZDTV and Time Warner Cable Announce Distribution Agreement
o Jupiter: Majority of Online Music Sales To Be Subscription-Based
o Washington Post: Discovery Communications Canceling Internet IPO
o Briefly Noted: Artistsdirect Network, Sonicnet.com, Gig.com,
Worldnet, Tadrian Scopus, Stephen King,
Digital Media Online, MusicMatch, DC's New Media Society,
Forbes.com - Hollywood,  SonicBox, Kodak - ememories.com,
HotDispatch, Napster - Sputnik7.com, Razorfish - RTL, Marvel - iConnect
_____________________________________________

o Emusic.com To Offer Monthly Subscription Fee For Downloadable Music

New York -- Emusic.com, an Internet retailer of downloadable music, today
announced a service that allows users to download an unlimited number of
songs and albums for one monthly fee. After the announcement, Redwood
City-based Emusic's stock price rose 32% to close just above $2.25.
Emusic.com said the subscription service will include access to its
125,000 music files. The company said the offering strikes a balance
between the needs of consumers and compensation for artists. “The Emusic
Unlimited subscription service offers a legitimate alternative to tools
like Napster by providing a compelling solution for both the music
consumer and the music business,” said Gene Hoffman, CEO of Emusic. In
May, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group announced plans to
start their own subscription-based digital music service that will be
released later this year.
http://www.emusic.com/about/pr/pr128.html
_____________________________________________

o RioPort Raises $31.5 Million in Second Round

San Jose, CA -- RioPort Inc., a developer of software used by Internet
companies to distribute downloadable music, today announced that it has
raised $31.5 million in its second round of financing. The investors
included EMC Corporation, Quantum Technology Ventures, and Mitsubishi
Corporation, along with first round investors S3 Inc., Vulcan Ventures,
and Oak Investment Partners.  San Jose-based RioPort has developed
technology that is used by music companies to encode, distribute and sell
audio content over the Internet. RioPort said it will use the investment
proceeds for further development of its "Pulse One Service," which is used
by a number of record labels and music companies including the MTVi Group,
House of Blues, the Ministry of Sound and others.
http://www.rioport.com/RioPress/1,2057,1,00.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/fo/000724/mu3111.html
_____________________________________________

o Hollywood.com, CinemaNow Form Independent Film Service

Marina Del Rey, CA -- Hollywood.com, an Internet entertainment company,
and CinemaNow, a streaming media site for independent films, formed a
strategic partnership Monday to deliver independent films over the
Internet. The partnership will be aimed at both movie industry executives
who are looking for new films as well as the public. "We are providing an
outlet for independent filmmakers to spotlight their wares to the two key
groups they covet the most – industry executives anxious to discover
exciting new talent, and a mainstream, movie-going audience eagerly
awaiting the next wave of actors and directors,” said Laurie Silvers,
president of Santa Monica-based Hollywood.com. Florida-based CinemaNow is
majority-owned by Trimark Pictures. The companies said they are currently
seeking submissions by independent filmmakers. More information is listed
at the link below.
http://www.broadway.com/corporate/press/holl/PR_independent.htm
_____________________________________________

o ZDTV and Time Warner Cable Announce Distribution Agreement

San Francisco, CA -- ZDTV, a cable network and website focused on
technology issues, announced today that it has signed a national
affiliation agreement with Time Warner Cable. The deal will allow ZDTV to
distribute its content, which focuses on technology and computing issues,
to Time Warner Cable's 12.6 million subscribers. San Francisco-based ZDTV
is backed by Vulcan Ventures, the venture capital firm of Microsoft
co-founder Paul Allen. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
http://www.upside.com/News/397c8f1a0_yahoo.html 
http://www.zdtv.com
_____________________________________________

o Jupiter: Majority of Online Music Sales To Be Subscription-Based

New York -- Jupiter Communications, a leading Internet research firm,
today released a study that forecasts that online music sales in the
United States will grow to $5.4 billion in 2005. The study argues that
over the next few years, the majority of online music sales will come from
subscriptions. Today, Emusic.com announced a new subscription-based
service. Jupiter Communications is holding its "Online Music Forum" in New
York City on Monday and Tuesday.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-2332850.html?tag=st.ne.1005.thed.ni
_____________________________________________

o Washington Post: Discovery Communications Canceling Internet IPO

Bethesda, Md. -- With Wall Street increasingly souring on Internet
spin-offs from traditional media companies, The Washington Post reported
over the weekend that Discovery.com, the Internet division of Discovery
Communications, is canceling plans for an initial public offering of its
stock. The Washington Post said that Discovery.com said it plans to raise
about $500 million privately for its ambitious Internet plans. "The market
has changed significantly since February," the Post quoted Michaela
English, president and chief operating officer of Discovery.com, as
saying. Privately held Discovery Communications runs the Discovery
Channel, the Learning Channel, Animal Planet and other cable networks.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23218-2000Jul21.html
_____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(Los Angeles) Los Angeles-based Artistdirect Network, an online music
entertainment company, today announced an agreement with New York-based
Reciprocal, Inc., a digital rights management company. Under the deal,
Artistdirect will use Reciprocal’s digital rights management tools to
provide audio and video streaming and downloads for sale and distribution.
“We’re building an infrastructure to meet the demands of the fans while
respecting artists and copyright holders,” said Marc Geiger, CEO of
Artistdirect.
http://www.artistdirect.com
http://www.reciprocal.com

(New York) Sonicnet.com, an online music website, and MTV.com distributed
the cybercast of the 2000 Yahoo! Internet Life Online Music Awards from
Studio 54 in New York City on Monday night. Performers included David
Bowie, Alanis Morissette and Aimee Mann.
http://www.sonicnet.com
http://www.mtv.com
http://www.vh1.com

(San Francisco, Ca.)  San Francisco-based Gig.com, an online digital music
services company, announced today the development of an Internet
infrastructure and content management system. The system is designed to
enable music providers to manage, store and deliver copyright-friendly
digital music to consumers. Gig.com is backed by Alcatel Ventures, Altos
Ventures, and Sony Music Entertainment.
http://www.gig.com

(Marina Del Rey, Ca.)  Marina Del Rey-based Worldnet, Inc. today announced
the acquisition of Sprocket Music, a record company formed by industry
veteran Russ Regan. The financial terms were not released.
http://www.wnrg.com

(San Diego, Ca.)  San Diego-based Tadrian Scopus, a supplier of digital
compression technology to the broadcasting industry, today announced that
CBS Newspath will use its services for covering the Democratic and
Republican National Conventions.
http://www.cbs.com

(Portland, Me.)  On Monday, Stephen King began selling the first
installment of his online book, “The Plant,” directly to readers through
his web site.  In a letter posted on his site, King promised to publish
the final installment of the book if at least 75 percent of those who
download the book pay $1 for it. He said he would publish the first two
installments regardless of the percentage of people who pay. King has
chosen Amazon.com to provide the payment system for the downloaded book.
Book publishers are reportedly watching King's idea closely; if
successful, King could set a precedent for other authors choosing to
bypass publishers and sell their books online.
http://www.stephenking.com
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-2332180.html?tag=st.ne.1002.thed.ni

(Santa Ana, Ca.) Santa Ana-based Digital Media Online, a developer of
online business-to-business communities for the digital media market,
launched DMNTV.com, an Internet broadcasting channel for digital media
professionals. The company said the site will provide a daily newscast
covering headlines, video updates from tradeshows, and interviews with
digital media executives.
http://www.dmntv.com

(San Diego) San Diego-based MusicMatch Inc., a developer of "jukebox"
software for storing and playing music on a computer, has hired Microsoft
executive Jonathan Gear. Gear, who worked as the chief consumer marketing
manager for Microsoft's Windows Media division, will serve as vice
president of marketing for MusicMatch.
http://www.musicmatch.com/about_us/press_releases.cgi?PRESS=72

(Washington, DC) Washington DC's New Media Society will hold a panel
discussion entitled "Music Piracy on the Internet" on August 1st from 6:30
- 8:30 pm. The event will be held at the NRECA Conference Center in
Arlington, Virginia. More information is available at the link below.
http://www.newmediasociety.org/

(New York) An article published in Forbes.com on Monday argued that
Hollywood is losing it "hip-ness" as it files lawsuits "against pesky web
sites founded by college students." "The action brought by the movie
studios and record companies against Scour.com is round 3 in the bout
between the big entertainment companies and the gnats of the Net," the
Forbes.com article reported. "In round 1, the music industry faced
Napster, a new music file-sharing Web site that became a household name
after the record companies and the music publishers filed suit. In round
2, the movie studios sued the publisher of a hacker magazine for
disseminating software that could be used to decrypt encrypted DVD files."
http://www.forbes.com/tool/html/00/Jul/0724/mu5.htm

(Mountain View, Ca.) Mountain View, Ca.-based SonicBox, Inc., an Internet
radio company, today launched its first hardware product, called the
SonicBox iM Remote Tuner. The device allows users to remotely control and
listen to Internet radio from any stereo in their homes. The device has a
base unit that is attached to a PC and a receiver that connects to a
stereo.
http://www.sonicbox.com

(Rochester, NY) Eastman Kodak Company today announced a partnership with
and investment in LA-based ememories.com, a web site that allow users to
share digital pictures with others. Under the agreement, Kodak's digital
products and services will be available to LA-based ememories.com
customers. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/pressReleases/pr20000724-01.shtml

(Mountain View, Ca.)  Mountain View-based HotDispatch, a developer of
technology for online marketplaces, today announced a service that
facilitates the online sale of intellectual property and downloadable
electronic goods. The service, called Office Fronts, allows users to
create web pages that feature their products. “Office Fronts is an
intellectual property selling service for the masses,” said Mike Kaul, CEO
of HotDispatch. The company is funded by venture capital firms New
Enterprise Associates and Accel Partners, and angel investors Mitchell
Kapor and Omar Khudari.
http://www.hotdispatch.com

(New York)  Napster, Inc., the large file-sharing community, today
announced a cooperation arrangement with Chris Blackwell’s sputnik7.com,
the online representative of the Palm Entertainment Music labels. Under
the deal, Sputnik7.com will provide an MP3 version of the single “Sundown”
by artist Elwood to the Napster community.
http://www.napster.com
http://www.sputnik7.com

(Hamburg) Razorfish, a web development firm, today announced that it has
partnered with RTL New Media, the Internet division of the German private
TV station RTL. Razorfish said it will "completely restructure and
redesign" RTL's web site. The new web site is scheduled to be finished in
mid-August.
http://www.rtl.de/

(New York) Marvel Enterprises announced today that it will offer its own
branded Internet service under a deal with iConnect. New York-based Marvel
said iConnect will carry out all of the technical aspects of providing
Internet service, while Marvel will market the service to its fans. Marvel
said the new service will provide subscribers with dial-up Internet access
along with an e-mail addresses that will include the address domains
@x-men.com and @wolverine.com.
http://www.marvel.com/news/pr/index.html
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