archives

o Music Publishers License EMusic Interactive Streaming Service
o Carsey-Werner Distribution To Acquire Sonic Foundry Syndication Unit
o TuneTo.com Offers Streaming Audio On Current Wireless Networks
o Latin Music Site Ritmoteca To Distribute Sony Music's Digital Catalog
o Personal Web Video Developer SpotLife Raises $30 Million
o ABC To Offer Web Version of "Millionaire" For College Editions
o Media Software Developer EZedia Receives $1 Million Investment
o USA Video Interactive Launches B2B Streaming Video Services
> Digital Media Wire Networking Event -- Los Angeles
o Briefly Noted: e-books, Streamedia Communications - eSynch, Music Choice
- Live Music Channel, TechTV, Musician.com
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o Music Publishers License EMusic Interactive Streaming Service

New York -- The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) announced on
Monday that it has amended its previous agreement with downloadable music
site EMusic.com, to include the licensing of its songwriters' works on an
interactive streaming audio service. The company will pay will pay a
royalty fee of one quarter of a cent ($.0025) the first time a song is
streamed by a user to the Harry Fox Agency, the NMPA's subsidiary that
handles the distribution of licensing payments. Redwood City-based EMusic
offers an all-you-can-download subscription service for a monthly fee; its
new agreement with the NMPA will allow the company to offer subscribers
interactive streaming audio of its catalog as well. "We want to make sure
that our music subscription service compensates copyright owners for the
use of their works with fair and equitable rates for both downloads and
streaming," said Robert Kohn, chairman of EMusic. "This licensing
agreement will hopefully lay the groundwork for setting a standard for
streaming services that will be adopted throughout the industry." Last
Friday, several NMPA members sued Universal Music Group for failing to
license the songs used on its interactive streaming service, offered by
Farmclub.com. That lawsuit is seeking $150,000 in damages for each alleged
infringement on the Farmclub.com service, which offers over 25,000 songs
for streaming on-demand. Edward P. Murphy, CEO of NMPA said he believes
the streaming license agreement with EMusic "will lay the groundwork for
the licensing of future streaming services."
http://www.nmpa.org/pr/emusic.html
http://www.emusic.com
http://www.nmpa.org/pr/universal.html
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o Carsey-Werner Distribution To Acquire Sonic Foundry Syndication Unit

Madison, Wisc. -- Sonic Foundry, a provider of digital media software and
services, announced on Monday that it has agreed to sell its syndication
unit to Carsey-Werner Distribution, an independent distributor of
television programming. Wisconsin-based Sonic Foundry will receive an
undisclosed amount of cash and an equity stake in the new Carsey-Werner
unit. The syndication unit will maintain its current function --
distributing syndicated streaming video content through a range of
channels. Studio City-based Carsey-Werner Distribution syndicates TV
programs including "The Cosby Show," "Roseanne" and "3rd Rock From the
Sun." "With the growing demand for substantive streaming content we see
this as a wonderful opportunity to expand our business into the area of
new media, which has proven to be a useful business and promotional tool
for many who have a need to circulate their content across several
mediums," said Robert Raleigh, president of Carsey-Werner Domestic
Television Distribution.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001211/wi_sonic_f.html
http://www.sonicfoundry.com
http://www.carseywerner.com
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o TuneTo.com Offers Streaming Audio On Current Wireless Networks

San Jose, Calif. -- TuneTo.com, a provider of broadband streaming audio,
announced on Monday that it will license technology it has developed that
allows "static and drop-out-free" streaming audio over wireless networks.
The company claims it can offer MP3-quality audio streaming (128Kbps) over
wireless networks used by AT&T and Verizon, which transfer data at a rate
of 19.2Kbps. By comparison, most computers today come equipped with a
modem that can transfer data at a rate of 56Kbps -- a faster rate than the
wireless networks, which can still produce unwanted lags in streaming
audio. San Jose-based TuneTo.com said that the service will be compatible
with CDPD, GPRS, CDMA, Ricochet, and 3G wireless networks. The technology
can support Windows Media files, RealAudio, MP3 and AAC audio formats.
"Until now, industry estimates have ranged from 3 to 5 years before any
ubiquitous networks might support audio streaming," said Tim Bratton,
president of TuneTo.com. "[Our technology] delivers high quality music
over existing networks at a fraction of the bandwidth required for a voice
call."
http://www.tuneto.com/company/press_releases/001211.cfm
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o Latin Music Site Ritmoteca To Distribute Sony Music's Digital Catalog

Miami -- Ritmoteca, a Latin music site where users pay to download music,
announced on Monday that it has signed a distribution deal with Sony Music
Entertainment. Under the deal, Ritmoteca users will be able to pay to
download tracks from Sony's Latin artists, including Gloria Estefan,
Jennifer Lopez and Francisco Paz to their computers. The tracks will be
available in either Sony's ATRAC3 format, an MP3-like format with added
security features, or in Microsoft's Windows Media format. New York-based
Reciprocal, a provider of digital rights management, will provide
transaction and clearinghouse services for Ritmoteca's Sony downloads.
Florida-based Ritmoteca will also feature Sony artists on its homepage and
create a dedicated "Sony Music Lounge" on its site for the label's Latin
artists.
http://english.ritmoteca.com/company/Release_Sony.rit
http://www.sonymusic.com/
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o Personal Web Video Developer SpotLife Raises $30 Million

San Mateo, Calif. -- SpotLife, a developer of video software for home
webcasting, announced on Monday that it has raised $30 million in its
third round of venture capital financing. Phillips Electronics contributed
$5 million to the round; other investors included Aventic Partners,
CMGI@Ventures, Atlas Ventures and Logitech. San Mateo-based SpotLife
allows users to post live and recorded video with audio to its site, which
the company then hosts and broadcasts over the Internet. The company also
has a distribution agreement with Phillips, which is including SpotLife's
software with its retail PCVideo cameras.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001211/ca_spotlif.html
http://www.spotlife.com
http://www.phillips.com
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o ABC To Offer Web Version of "Millionaire" For College Editions

New York -- ABC announced on Monday that it will offer an online
interactive version of its program "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" to
college students and the public, to coincide with TV episodes featuring
college students from around the country. From Dec. 19-21, viewers of the
TV trivia program can play an interactive version of the game at ABC.com,
answering the same questions posed to the TV contestants in real-time.
Students from ten universities were chosen to represent their schools in
the television broadcasts. Web players will gain bonus points for clicking
on the correct answer more quickly than their television counterparts, and
can choose a school's "team" to join and accumulate online points on that
school's behalf.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001211/ny_walt_di_2.html
http://heavy.etv.go.com/etvHome/mil/
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o Media Software Developer EZedia Receives $1 Million Investment

Winnipeg, Manitoba -- eZedia, a developer of software that allows users to
play, edit and create digital media, announced on Monday that it has
recently received investments totaling $1 million. Crocus Investment Fund
and that group's subsidiary, Manitoba Science and Technology Fund, each
contributed $500,000 to the round. Canada-based eZedia develops media
creation, authoring and development software designed for average computer
users.
http://www.ezedia.com/1_press121100.html
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o USA Video Interactive Launches B2B Streaming Video Services

Mystic, Conn. -- USA Video Interactive launched a business-to-business
service on Monday that will offer clients content production services for
online video. The services include encoding and distribution, asset
management, media and application hosting and e-commerce for streaming
video. The company said the services will include support for rich media
advertising, entertainment video delivery, video-enhanced websites,
corporate training, educational portals and infomercials. "After
significant market research, we concluded that we would include in our
business plan an innovative services-oriented approach that would be
effective and profitable even in a declining technology market," said
Edwin Molina, CEO of USA Video Interactive. The company has partnered with
companies including Massachusetts-based EMC, which will provide
information storage for USA's service.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001211/ct_usa_vid.html
http://www.usvo.com/index2.html
http://www.emc.com/
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> Digital Media Wire Networking Event: Los Angeles

Los Angeles -- Digital Media Wire will host its next networking event on
Wednesday, December 13 in Los Angeles for subscribers and those interested
in the convergence of entertainment, technology and the Internet. Light
hors d'oeuvres will be served and there will be a cash bar. There is no
charge for the event and registration is not necessary.

Event Sponsor:
iHollywood Forum

Date: Wednesday, December 13, 2000
Time: 6:30 - 9:30
Location: The Sunset Trocadero Lounge
8280 Sunset Boulevard - West Hollywood, CA

For additional details: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/dmw_event1.html
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o Briefly Noted:

(San Francisco) Wired News reported on Monday on the current range of
titles available in e-book format. Many best-selling authors are making
releases available as e-books weeks before the print edition is released,
but classic and backlist titles are less available. For instance, Gemstar
offers the Cliff's Notes version of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, but
does not carry the version written by work's original author.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,40471,00.html

(San Jose, Calif.) Streamedia Communications, a provider of streaming
media broadcasting services, announced on Monday that it has partnered
with eSynch, a developer of video software for broadband streaming and
on-demand video. Under the agreement, Tustin-based eSynch will make
streaming content from San Jose-based Streamedia's BijouCafe.com website
available on its broadband player, which uses a single interface to play
media files in a range of formats.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001211/ca_streame.html
http://www.esynch.com
http://www.bijoucafe.com

(Horsham, Pa.) Music Choice, a provider of digital music over cable,
satellite and the Internet, announced on Monday a programming agreement
with Live Music Channel, a provider of live music performances on
television and the Internet. Under the agreement, New York-based Live
Music Channel will provide live music content to Pennsylvania-based Music
Choice's digital music cable channel and website, as well as one program
per month with concert performances and artist interviews.
http://www.musicchoice.com
http://www.livemusicchannel.com

(San Francisco) TechTV, an on-air and online network "dedicated to the
digital lifestyle," announced on Monday an updated version of its website.
The site now offers 5,000 video-on-demand features covering digital media
and technology issues. The company will also begin offering web-only
newscasts on its site in January. San Francisco-based TechTV, formerly
known as ZDTV, recently launched a major ad campaign for its
technology-focused cable television channel.
http://www.techtv.com

(New York) Inside.com ran a feature story on Monday about Musician.com, a
website that offers expert musician advice to aspiring musicians, as well
as an online store where users can purchase equipment from retailers
including Guitar Center's group of e-commerce sites. "Nationwide, there
are about 50 to 70 million musicians," said Vic Lanzillotti, co-president
of Musician.com. "This site is geared toward the musician who is
passionate about the self-image of being a musician. That can be a
sixth-grader picking up a guitar, or a very advanced player trying to get
his band a break."
http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=16975&pod_id=9
http://www.musician.com
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