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THE INDUSTRY STANDARD'S
B E A T S H E E T
A Weekly Report on the Convergence of Music and the Net
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| http://www.thestandard.com |
Tuesday, February 1, 2000
TOP STORY:
* Betting the Farmclub.com: Music Site Spins Off TV Show
NET NOISE:
* Gigmania
UPBEAT:
* Print your own ticket, says Ticketmaster.com
* MP3.com counts the money it hasn't made
* Sony sued for pushing its Web site in retailers' stores
SOUND OFF:
Once you buy a CD, should you have the right to listen to it in any
medium without paying additional fees to the artist or label?
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TOP STORY:
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Betting the Farmclub.com: Music Site Spins Off TV Show
By Julene Snyder
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - The Universal Studios sound stage was thick
with clouds of dry ice, ringing cell phones and stacks of video
monitors flashing screenshots from the newly revamped Jimmy and Doug's
Farmclub.com Web site. Taping was about to begin for "Farmclub.com,"
an hour-long show that will air Monday nights at 11 p.m. on the USA
Network.
"We're the first TV show with a dot-com in our name," says Andy
Schoun, president of Farmclub.com. The name is no accident, since the
show is designed to drive traffic to the site - and vice versa.
Visitors to the site will be able to vote on which bands should be
invited to perform on the television show.
The debut show showcased Sonique, the first artist signed by online
label, Farmclub/Republic Records, which is a subsidiary of Universal
Records. The group Headboard, from Petaluma, Calif., also won a chance
to show off its skills, which turned out to be a bizarre amalgam of
bombastic rock, hip-hop posturing and incongruously pretty female
vocals.
In case audiences weren't willing to turn out for these unknowns,
Farmclub stacked the deck with Dr. Dre, rapper Eminem and teen
heartthrobs 98 Degrees. Hundreds of excited music fans lined up
outside the soundstage to show their appreciation. Not coincidentally,
the top-name performers all come from the Universal family of labels,
which includes A&M, Geffen, Interscope, Island, Motown and Mercury.
Judging by the decidedly mediocre Headboard, trotting out stars from
the Universal stable may be necessary to keep viewers from lunging for
the remote. Farmclub filled out the hour with what the script called
"idle banter" between band members and the show's host, ex-MTV VJ Matt
Pinfield.
The Web component of Jimmy and Doug's Farmclub relaunched on Monday;
there, musicians are invited to upload as many as four songs, with the
promise that an experienced team of A&R folks will listen and may
extend an invitation to perform on the TV show. A monthly contest will
award the band with the most votes a slot on an upcoming show. Ads on
MTV, USA and Farmclub partner AOL are scheduled to begin this week.
Online bugs were still being worked out just after the relaunch; the
graphic-laden site tends to freeze and time-out at inopportune
moments, and navigation can be cumbersome.
How many hits has the "teaser" site been getting? No one's talking
actual numbers just yet, but general manager Amanda Marks did say
there's been steady growth. Farmclub staff likes to toss around the
number 90 million with regard to the TV show, but that turns out to be
the total number of homes with access to the USA Network. Getting even
a fraction of those millions to tune in to what's basically an
infomercial for Universal artists could be tricky.
While the company won't disclose costs, bringing Pinfield on board -
and relocating him from New Jersey to California - certainly cost a
few bucks, as will producing a weekly, hour-long TV show. But if
revenue from TV and Web ads can cover the costs, Farmclub may turn out
to be a profitable venture. The debut show's advertisers included
Samsung, Nike and Compaq, along with a sprinkling of spots promoting
Universal Studios movies like "The Beach" and "The Hurricane."
Doug Morris, founder of Universal Music and the "Doug" of Jimmy and
Doug's Farmclub, is serious when he calls the project a "dream
machine" for artists, but he's equally serious when he talks about the
potential for profit. "This will be the first record company that has
a stream of revenue from advertising." And if an actual star emerges
from the sea of downloaded music, all the better. "Are we going to
sell a ton of records from this? Will dreams be fulfilled?" Morris
asks, no doubt rhetorically.
The "Jimmy" of Jimmy and Doug's Farmclub is Jimmy Iovine, founder of
Interscope Records and producer of luminaries like U2, Tom Petty and
Patti Smith. "Fundamentally, this Web site has online and offline
distribution," he explains, his voice rising to be heard over a
cursing technician. "Doug and I said, 'If we could start a new record
company, what would it be?'" He answers himself: "This would be it. A
record company, a Web site, a TV show and a community for musicians."
Later, when the show is being filmed, the still unsigned Headboard is
greeted politely enough by the crowd of young people. But it's
established bad boy Eminem who gets the biggest response when he
explodes with a barrage of profanity just because he feels like it. So
what if his potty mouth will be bleeped out in the final cut? For a
moment, there's a real sense of spontaneity amid the carefully
scripted segments and the contrived banter. Something unexpected has
just happened, and that, after all, is what makes for compelling
television. That sense of spontaneity will be needed for Farmclub to
build a regular audience.
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NET NOISE:
~~~~~~~~~~
REVIEW OF THE WEEK: Gigmania.com
I've been looking for any excuse to avoid bland, corporate city guides
such as CitySearch when I need to find out who's playing where. Now I
have it. Gigmania.com has extensive daily listings for live music in
17 major urban "scenes" and also provides song clips and Web links for
many artists - and not just for the headliners. Before you fly to New
Orleans to hear Betsy McGovern at O'Flaherty's pub, you can listen to
a few seconds of "Be Thou My Vision." Easy navigation by artist and
venue is a big plus, while the in-house editorial - mostly short
concert reviews and previews, plus links to in-depth material in
CMJ.com's archive, make Gigmania an essential music resource.
-Alex Lash
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UPBEAT:
~~~~~~~
Avoid Leaving Your Chair
Ticketmaster.com lets consumers buy and print tickets
Ticketmaster's scheme to let consumers "purchase, download and print
bar-coded event tickets from their home or office PC" by the second
quarter of this year sounds like a terrific concept for those of us
who hate waiting in line. In return for convenience, those taking
advantage of the new service can expect to be hit with advertising
pitches, characterized by the company as "highly-targeted and
personalized offers including related merchandise offers and special
values." Barcodes are the key to the technology, which has taken the
company several years to develop.
No Money, No Cry
MP3.com announces last quarter earnings
It's a brave new world when losing millions is reason to celebrate,
and you're worth billions on the stock market without posting a penny
of profit. Witness the smiles at MP3.com, which just released its
fourth quarter earnings statement. Revenues shot up a mind-boggling
1,900 percent for all of 1999 - which sure sounds like reason to break
out the champagne - until you factor in the little fact that losses
for the year totaled $36.31 million. But losses of 17 cents a share in
the last quarter are called good news these days, at least when
compared to previous Wall Street estimates that had put MP3's
quarterly losses at 23 cents per share.
Another Day, Another Lawsuit
Sony sued for pushing its Web site
Sony got slapped this week with a suit from the National Association
of Recording Merchandisers, which alleges that the firm is forcing
retailers to corral customers to its online shops. The association
charges unfair competition, claiming that Sony is forcing offline
record sellers to stock CDs riddled with links that promote Sony
stores and products.
SOUND OFF:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once you buy a CD, should you have the right to listen to it in any
medium you wish without paying additional fees to the artist or label?
E-mail your opinions to julene@well.com, and we'll print a selection
of the responses in next week's Beat Sheet. Keep them short and
include your name and affiliation, if any.
STAFF
~~~~~
Written by Julene Snyder. Send newstips and press releases to
julene@well.com.
Edited by Lori Patel (lorip@thestandard.com).
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