=====================================================================
THE INDUSTRY STANDARD'S
B E A T S H E E T
A Weekly Report on the Convergence of Music and the Net
=====================================================================
| http://www.thestandard.com |
Tuesday, June 27, 2000
TOP STORY:
* Sign Me Up, Scottie
We've seen the future of digital music, and it's the subscription
model.
NET NOISE:
* Hookt.com
BEATS:
* Napster's Dream Team
Grown-ups now on board at the file-swapping service.
DOT DOT DOT:
* The word from Ice-T ... Steve Albini did it first ... Napster
wheels, slightly used ... Dreams of stardom
SOUND OFF:
* How much would you pay every month to be able to listen to anything
you wanted online? Why would it be worth it?
/=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= advertisement =-=-=\
Check out the Standard's all new Job Shop!
Come browse the hottest job opportunities in the Internet Economy.
Our new posting service brings together the top employers and the
top candidates in the Internet business space. Find your next gig
right here or post a job in front of the best web minds in the world.
Your next career move could be a mouse click away. Visit JOB SHOP today.
http://www.thestandard.com/people/recruitment/?nrc=nhsr
\=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=/
TOP STORY
~~~~~~~~~
Sign Me Up, Scottie
We've seen the future of digital music, and it's the subscription
model.
By Julene Snyder
Last week's MP3 Summit was filled with many cool gadgets, but when
most people discussed the future of digital music, it wasn't hardware
on their minds - it was the subscription model.
Take a minute and think about your favorite music, the stuff that
makes you cry, think, bang your head against the wall. Now imagine
that you can (legally) hear any of it anytime you want, in any order
you choose, like a mix tape that comes straight from your soul.
That's the promise subscriptions make. "For the consumer, subscription
models are great. You get as much as you want. It's like an
all-you-can-eat buffet," says Daryl Berg, VP of strategic planning for
the Orchard, which distributes indie music digitally.
Several companies have already begun tinkering with all-you-can-eat
subs, also known as the "Celestial Jukebox" model. MP3.com's recently
launched classical music channel costs $9.99 a month for access to
"thousands of downloadable tracks" from Bach to Vivaldi. EMusic.com
recently moved from the 99 -cent-per-download plan to a more
subscription-oriented one.
But the road there isn't easy. For one thing, there's the matter of
listeners, who aren't used to paying flat fees for music other than
that found on albums. Then again, perhaps it's just a matter of how
we're presented with the bill. After all, most of us don't think twice
about writing a check for cable every month.
But just as 500 TV channels can seem like too much, the subscription
model might suffer because people are wary of an information glut.
"Consumers don't want everything available all the time as much as
they want programming that they enjoy," says Whitney Broussard, an
attorney at Selverne Mandelbaum & Mintz, a firm that specializes in
music and music-related technology. The subscription model could be
viewed as a way for labels and e-retailers to gorge themselves. "Combo
meals, all-you-can-eat buffets, and soup and salad with your entree
have been ways that the food service industry has been able to get us
to pay more for food we might not really want, or have otherwise
ordered," is the comparison made by KROQ's Stacie Seifrit, director of
sales and marketing.
Today, the options are still pretty limited: You can dine-and-dash
from the Napster or Gnutella cafeteria, you can splurge and spend a
whole lot of money on actual CDs for the few songs that you really
want to hear, or you can bide your time, hoping that the Celestial
Jukebox Diner opens for business sometime soon. Here's to more choices
on the menu.
Related article on EMusic.com:
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,16288,00.html?nl=bts
/=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= advertisement =-=-=\
Exclusive New E-Commerce Reports from The Standard
E-Commerce Consumers: What, Where, and Why
They Buy, Spring 2000, a series of 12 reports from The Standard
and Odyssey, provides a fresh perspective on the broad E-commerce
market, branding, vertical markets and demographic usage.
Available only at http://www.thestandard.com/store/econsumers/?nst=nhsr
\=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=/
NET NOISE
~~~~~~~~~
"Huh?" Rules at Hookt.com
There may be great hip-hop beats to be found at Hookt.com. In fact,
this site might turn out to be the greatest thing to happen to rap
since vinyl was scratched. It's hard to know for sure, because the
crashing windows, the competing applets, the endless plug-ins, the
pop-up windows and the sheer number of bells and whistles make the
content all but forgotten. It appears that there are some MP3
downloads available. You can surmise that the section called "On the
Sneak Tip" might one day have more to offer than an essay on why some
woman who calls herself "detox" loves strip clubs. You can hope that
the editorial offered up here makes it worth the effort of following
text that scrolls whether you like it or not. But you will never find
out, because it's too much of a pain in the nether regions to bother.
Call us back, Hookt.com, when you stop playing with all of your cool
toys long enough to make it clear what you have that we need. On
second thought, don't call us, we'll call you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BEATS
~~~~~
Napster's Dream Team
Grown-ups now on board at the file-swapping service.
As we noted last week, Napster's recent influx of cash - $15 million,
to be precise - has got to come in handy in the company's quest to not
be sued out of existence. To that end, the company recently hired
David Boies, the lawyer that headed the legal team responsible for
defeating a little company called Microsoft. Another recent hire is
well-respected lawyer and former A&M Records exec Milt Olin, who
signed on for a reputed six-figure salary. The case against Napster is
coming to a head one way or another; last Friday, the Wall Street
Journal reported that the company has been in talks with music
industry honchos regarding a possible settlement. Should there be no
settlement, we're coming down to the wire, since Napster only has
until the third of July to respond to a request for a preliminary
injunction filed a few weeks ago. It's enough to make your head hurt,
but never fear, The Standard spells out what's what and what's next at:
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,16338,00.html?nl=bts
Dot Dot Dot
~~~~~~~~~~
The word from Ice-T ... Steve Albini did it first ... Napster wheels,
slightly used ... Dreams of stardom
Sure, it was fun watching people frantically trying to find a spot
where they could get good reception on their cell phones at last
week's MP3 Summit but for our money, the best fun was listening to
Ice-T's hilarious musings at the panel dubbed "Sound Advice: Online
Artist Success Stories and How They Can Work for You." Although not
every word was captured on our tape player - due in part to the howls
of laughter from the rest of the audience - we caught enough of
Ice-T's hyperbole-free thoughts on tape to give you the gist. Go to
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,16220,00.html?nl=bts
... More than a few people have pointed out that Courtney Love's
manifesto against the record industry that Salon ran last week was all
fine and well, but Steve Albini made many of the same points years ago
in the Baffler (#5). For those of you who missed it the first time
around, find it online at
http://www.indiecentre.com/info/article.cfm?CategoryID=0&ArticleID=25.
... If you've got an extra $25,000 or so laying around, it's not too
late to get in your bid on Napster wunderkind Shawn Fanning's 1995
Mazda RX-7 Twin Turbo. Bidding closes on the eBay auction mid-day on
Thursday. ... Today's launch of DreamWorks Digital - yet another place
for unsigned bands to submit music and hope for a big break - is
notable if only for this practical advice offered to groups: "Don't
just submit a song to DreamWorks and wait for the limo driver to ring
your bell with a recording contract." Of course not - Steven Spielberg
would probably deliver the contract personally and leave the limo
driver outside.
SOUND OFF
~~~~~~~~~
This week's question: How much would you pay every month to be able to
listen to anything you wanted online? Why would it be worth it?
E-mail your opinions to julene@well.com with "sound off" in the
subject line, and we'll print a selection of the responses in next
week's newsletter. Letters may be edited for clarity and length, so
keep them short and include your name and affiliation, if any.
Last week's question: Can a company like Launch.com buy street cred?
"No chance. Small online networks have been Webcasting the Warped Tour
for some time - quality content with a great distribution system gets
the cred. Launch has been a corporate loser since their first day
online. Bring back the CD-ROMS!"
- Benjamin F. Barnett
"Hell yes - if it executes. As a frequent visitor to many music Web
sites, I like what Launch is doing. Their LaunchCast has the potential
to be a killer app. It allows you to rate songs, artists and albums,
and the system 'learns' your listening habits. This is the type of
sticky application that companies dream of ... once you start using
this, you would hesitate going anywhere else. However, having a cool
music site doesn't buy you street cred. They will just have to
continue executing on their strategy and turn a profit - I think Wall
Street is wary of any Internet company now so it is up to them to
prove themselves."
- Adam Hamb
"It depends on the street you're talking about. Wall Street? Well,
look at the southerly direction of its stock chart for your answer.
Content-based, ad-revenued companies are far out of vogue there, so no
street cred for Launch. And $12 million in stock for a Lollapalooza
knock-off? Not helping its cause. Main Street? It's certainly racking
up some traffic and offers a pretty solid service for cutting through
the zillions of sites offering music, so there's some cred there, but
not to those living on Alterna-Street. But unless those on Main Street
are willing to pony up for stock in Launch, the Main Street cred won't
translate to Wall Street, where the company's fortune ultimately
rests."
- Jody Lentz
"Although corporate entities can sell boy bands and teeny bopper
albums, true music fans are always wary of anything having integrity
within the industry that 'sells-out.' And buying street credibility is
just that, selling-out. Credibility and respect are earned, not
bought. Any corporate entity that doesn't think so will find itself
out in the cold and out of money, fast. Nothing turns faster than an
opinion. Once labeled as a sell-out, there is no chance of gaining
your credibility back."
- Bryan T. Walley
"Trying to buy street cred is like trying to buy friendship. Companies
attempt to do it all the time, but it rarely endures. And if it
backfires, you alienate exactly those you sought to impress."
- Alex Hillinger
"Nope. And (Launch.com) sure as hell won't get any closer to its
target demo with the Warped Tour, whose headlining roster has gotten
more predictably top 40 and less true to the supposed target market of
teenaged skaters and punklets. The 'big' bands on the WT the past two
years are bands that the die-hards listened to either five years ago
or not at all. This is a classic example of 'grown-ups' stepping in
and fouling things up by trying to say, 'Hey kids, we're cool, we're
hip, we're down with you, look - we got the Offspring!' and having no
clue that they've just advertised themselves as the king dorks of the
universe. Street cred (especially with 'alternative' teens) is earned
and involves 'the street,' so to speak. In a nutshell: If you have to
ask, you'll never understand."
- Stephanie Wiggins
STAFF
~~~~~
Written by Julene Snyder. Send news tips and press releases to
julene@well.com.
Edited by Steven Zeitchik (szeitchik@thestandard.com).
Copyedited by Elese Veeh (eveeh@thestandard.com).
GET THE MAGAZINE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4 RISK-FREE issues at this URL:
http://www.thestandard.com/account/magazine
GET MORE NEWSLETTERS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Industry Standard newsletters cover the media, stock market,
e-commerce, music, law and more. Enter your e-mail address at the
following URL and select the newsletters you wish to receive:
http://www.thestandard.com/newsletters/
To UNSUBSCRIBE to any newsletters, log in at the following URL and
select the newsletters you wish to cancel:
http://www.thestandard.com/account/newsletters/unsubscribe
GET MORE NEWS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Go to http://www.thestandard.com for more coverage on the Internet
Economy.
ADVERTISING INFORMATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For more information on advertising in The Industry Standard
Newsletters, contact:
West Coast
Connie Elliott (mailto:celliott@thestandard.com)
East Coast
Norma Wesolowski (mailto:normaw@thestandard.com)
FEEDBACK AND PROBLEMS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Send letters to the editor to letters@thestandard.com.
Please contact us with any problems that arise:
http://www.thestandard.com/service
You can also contact us via phone or mail:
The Industry Standard, Customer Service
(402) 293-0386 (phone)
(402) 293-0794 (fax)
The Industry Standard, Production
315 Pacific Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 733-5400 (main)
(415) 733-5401 (fax)
Copyright 2000 The Industry Standard |