archives

o Napster And Bertelsmann Discuss Recent Partnership At Webnoize
o Bertelsmann May Be In Talks To Acquire Liquid Audio
o Streaming Music Site Echo Networks Raises $5 Million
o Sony And Packet Video Partner For Wireless Broadband Content Delivery
o Streampipe.com Acquires Streaming Software Developer 4Ward Logic
o Digital Imagery Provider BusyBox.com Raises $5 Million
o Short Attention Span Film Festival Creators Launch Dreamspan.com
o Briefly Noted: NetRadio - Vizzavi, Atom Films - Century Theatres, Myplay
- ETC Music, Zomba Records Group - Liquid Audio, Savage Beast
Technologies, Rollingstone.com - RadioWave.com, DiscoverMusic
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o Napster And Bertelsmann Discuss Recent Partnership At Webnoize

Los Angeles -- Teenage founder of Napster Shawn Fanning and the company's
CEO Hank Barry joined Andreas Schmidt, CEO of Bertelsmann's e-Commerce
Group (BeCG) on Monday at Webnoize 2000 in Los Angeles, to discuss the
recent partnership between the two companies. Bertelsmann AG agreed to
loan Napster $50 million and drop the lawsuit against the company filed by
its BMG division if Napster could create a secure, membership-based file
trading service. Schmidt said that Napster's ease of use and the strong
sense of community among its millions of users were among reasons why
Bertelsmann agreed to work with a company that it is also currently suing.
He also said that BeCG and Napster have been in "active talks" with other
major labels about possible collaboration on a membership service. Napster
CEO Hank Barry said that the service would be membership-based rather than
a subscription model because, "With subscriptions, you get something, but
with a membership you "belong" to something." When asked what kind of
security the service would provide against piracy, Schmidt said that the
major labels have resembled the National Security Agency in their pursuit
of copyright protection, and that he wanted "only the basic requirements
-- to compensate artists and rightsholders -- without screwing up the
customer's experience." Barry added that several digital rights management
providers have come forward to solicit their services since the deal was
announced. Dressed in trademark cap and T-shirt, Napster founder Shawn
Fanning said he was not concerned with any loss of CD sales major labels
may experience as a result of his creation; Barry added that no studies
have shown a "cannibalization" of CD sales resulting from music downloads.
Looking to the future, Fanning said he was working on Napster's technology
to improve its reliability, and to strengthen its community by making it
easier for users with similar musical tastes to find one another.
http://www.webnoize2000.com
http://www.napster.com
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o Bertelsmann May Be In Talks To Acquire Liquid Audio

New York -- German media company Bertelsmann may be in talks to acquire
Liquid Audio, according to an article on Inside.com. San Francisco-based
Liquid Audio develops distribution software for digital music. If
Bertelsmann were to acquire Liquid Audio, it would gain the experience of
a company that has encoded songs digitally, and can track their
distribution among users. Liquid Audio could also secure the distribution
of music, as well as other media such as e-books for Bertelsmann, which is
also a major publisher. A spokesperson for Bertelsmann denied that talks
were occurring, while a Liquid Audio spokesperson declined to comment.
http://www.inside.com/story/Current?art_id=14618&podId=9
http://www.liquidaudio.com
http://www.bertelsmann.com
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o Streaming Music Site Echo Networks Raises $5 Million

San Francisco -- Echo Networks, a community site based around streaming
music, announced that it has received $5 million in its first round of
venture capital financing. Angel investors including eBay co-founder Jeff
Skoll, former president of Hollywood Records Peter Paterno and Michael Mo,
CEO of Wish.com led the investment round; Revolution Ventures and
Fundamental Capital also contributed. San Francisco-based Echo Networks,
which is currently testing its web service, allows users to create
communities based around the type of music they like. A simultaneous music
stream is sent to all members of the community, generated from ratings
that each community's members give certain songs.
http://www.echo.com
_____________________________________________

o Sony And Packet Video Partner For Wireless Broadband Content Delivery

Los Angeles -- Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment (SPDE) announced on
Monday that it has partnered with Packet Video, a developer of software
that delivers broadband multimedia content to wireless devices. Under the
deal, San Diego-based PacketVideo will customize SPDE content including
movie promotions and multiuser games, for broadband streaming to wireless
devices. Sony is planning wireless promotions for its current release
"Charlie's Angels," as well as a multiuser game version of its show "The
Dating Game."
http://www.packetvideo.com/current_press_nov13.html
http://www.spe.sony.com
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o Streampipe.com Acquires Streaming Software Developer 4Ward Logic

Alexandria, Va. -- Streampipe.com, a business-to-business provider of
streaming media production and broadcasting, announced on Monday that it
has acquired Virginia-based 4Ward Logic, a firm that develops customized
streaming media software for its clients. Terms of the transaction were
not disclosed. Virginia-based Streampipe.com offers services including the
creation and delivery of streaming video and audio, conversion of
traditional media to streamed media formats and satellite broadband
Internet broadcasting. "Because we both believe that providing customized
content is key to success in the business-to-business streaming media
marketplace, 4ward Logic's business strategy matches well with that of
Streampipe," said Michael Ahern, chief technology officer of
Streampipe.com.
http://www.streampipe.com
http://www.4wardlogic.com
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o Digital Imagery Provider BusyBox.com Raises $5 Million

Los Angeles -- Busybox.com, a developer and distributor of digital
imagery, announced on Monday that it has raised $5 million in financing
from an undisclosed private institutional investor. The investor has
committed up to $5 million to purchase shares of Busybox.com stock. Los
Angeles-based Busybox.com distributes digital stock video over the
Internet, as well as on VHS and CD-ROM. The company said it will use the
funds to double the amount of stock video in its library, as well as to
support marketing for its recently announced partnership with Apple to
utilize its QuickTime video software.
http://www.busybox.com
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o Short Attention Span Film Festival Creators Launch Dreamspan.com

Santa Monica -- Dreamspan.com, an online entertainment network, announced
on Monday the launch of its site. The site was created by the founders of
the Short Attention Span Film and Video Festival, a traveling festival
showcasing films under two minutes in length. Santa Monica-based
Dreamspan.com will feature short films, animation, interactive music
videos and photography. The company has partnerships with Atlanta-based
Three Squared, to provide encoding and streaming services over Akamai's
content delivery network; it also said it will provide content to
Hollywood-based IFilm.
http://www.dreamspan.com
http://www.shortspan.com
http://www.threesquared.com
http://www.ifilm.com
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o Briefly Noted:

(Minneapolis) NetRadio, a provider of Internet radio programming,
announced on Monday that it has partnered with Vizzavi, an online portal
for European cell phone and interactive television subscribers. The portal
was created by cellular provider Vodafone and telecommunications and
utilities firm Vivendi. Under the partnership, NetRadio will provide an
online music player and 60 web radio channels to the Vizzavi portal site.
The site will be accessible over the Internet, as well as to Canal Plus
interactive television subscribers and Vodafone cellular subscribers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001113/mn_netradi.html
http://www.vizzavi.com/index3.htm
http://www.netradio.com

(Seattle) Atom Films, a short film entertainment site, announced on Monday
its program to begin showing short films before feature-length films in
movie theaters. The first theater to participate in the program will be
Century Theatre's CineArts 6 multiplex in Evanston, Ill, which shows only
art and independent films in a modern digital theater. "It is wonderful to
be able to provide filmmakers the opportunity to exhibit their films on
giant screens with state of the art audio and visual quality," said Nancy
Klasky, vice president of marketing for Century Theatres.
http://www.atomfilms.com

(Redwood City, Calif.) Myplay, a provider of "digital locker" services for
online music, announced on Monday that it will provide locker services and
technology to ETC Music, which is developing in-store kiosks for
downloading digital music to portable players. Under the deal, when a
consumer purchases music at an ETC Music kiosk, the songs will be
simultaneously added to a personal digital music locker, accessible
through ETC Music's website. Redwood City-based Myplay provides a service
that allows users to stream music they have already purchased on CD or via
download from an online storage locker to their PC or MP3 player.
http://www.myplay.com
http://www.etcmusic.com/etc_press_111300release.html
http://www.musicteller.com

(Redwood City, Calif.) Zomba Records Group, which owns a group of labels
that are home to musicians including N'Sync, Britney Spears and the
Backstreet Boys, announced on Monday that Liquid Audio will provide
digital distribution for both individual songs and full album downloads
from its artists. Redwood City-based Liquid Audio will sell the downloads
in Liquid Audio format at sites on its network of 1000 online retailers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001113/ca_liquid_.html
http://www.liquidaudio.com

(Oakland, Calif.) Savage Beast Technologies, a developer of music search
and recommendation technology, announced on Monday the release of its
musical "genetic code" recommendation technology. Oakland-based Savage
Beast employs music theory experts to assess 180 different
characteristics, or "genes" of a song to create a database of information.
The company then markets this information to traditional retailers, record
labels and digital music sites. Savage Beast also announced that music
site Riffage.com and Tower Records' in-store kiosk program will use its
technology.
http://www.savagebeast.com
http://www.riffage.com

(Chicago) Rollingstone.com announced on Monday the launch of its Rolling
Stone Radio service, which was created by Chicago-based RadioWave.com, a
business-to-business provider of Internet radio stations. The radio
network currently features 20 stations in a variety of genres;
Rollingstone.com said that it will also program specialty stations, such
as "Pop 100," featuring the top 100 pop songs of all time.
http://www.rollingstone.com/sections/radio/default.asp?afl=
http://www.radiowave.com

(Los Angeles) DiscoverMusic, a provider of music samples and data to
Internet music retailers, announced on Monday the launch of a video
sampling service for movie trailers. The service will allow Internet
retail sites to promote the sales of DVD and video titles with movie
trailers streamed from Seattle-based DiscoverMusic's servers. The company
has paid to license the music it streams from performing rights
organizations including ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.
http://discovermusic.com
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