Forum Archive Index - August 2000

["Mark Hubbard" <mhubbard@es.co.nz>]

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From: Wedde, John <john.wedde@cit.ac.nz>
To: <sharechat@sharechat.co.nz>
Sent: 11 August 2000 10:41 AM
Subject: [sharechat] EStar - online music sales


> ChaosMusic hopes to kick-start commercial music file swapping over the
> internet by allocating to artists and record companies a proportion of the
> internet advertising revenues it sources from the increasingly popular
> pursuit.
> Chaos yesterday outlined plans to initially forgo 15 per cent of the
> advertising revenues sourced form its audio search tool, FreeTracks in a
> proposal triggered by last week's copyright stoush between the Record
> Industry Association of America and online music swapping service Napster.
> "We got to the stage where we decided to take a proactive step rather than
> wait for the industry to find a solution," said ChaosMusic chief executive
> officer Mr Rob Appel.
> "We are taking the proposal to the US and we plan to talk to global
> collection societies," he said.
> Napster provides the mechanism with which to swap MP3 music files while
> FreeTracks merely enables visitors to search the internet for a audio
files,
> some legitimate and some not, according to Mr Appel.
> He said that by monitoring search requests on FreeTracks, ChaosMusic could
> apportion revenue to specific artists and copyright holders.
> The go-ahead for the scheme, however, awaits the response of record
> companies and collection agencies like the Australasian Performing Rights
> Association .
> These associations have failed to address the growing issue of piracy as
> music shoppers flock to the internet.
> Reflecting the trend, Telstra yesterday announced an exclusive deal with
> Sanity.com to enable its customers to buy music online over their
> WAP-enabled mobile phones.
> Mr Appel declined to disclose the amount of revenue generated by
advertising
> on FreeTracks but said with co-operation from other companies, the scheme
> could provide a substantial revenue stream for artists.
> "We are happy to talk about the evolution of the model. It could for
> instance take the same form as radio royalties," Mr Appel said.
> He said the proposed levy was not an endorsement for the unauthorised use
of
> music files but provided a starting point in recognising the copyright
> component of online music.


Sanity.com (SDC on ASX) is looking like a much more impressive online music
seller than Chaosmusic - especially in terms of cashflow. Also, Chaos sales
only increased marginally over the last quarter, while Sanity.com sales grew
55%. Also, Sanity.com is linked to the physical Sanity music store chain in
Aussie, ie, Clicks and Mortar. Sanity.com is owned, as it the Sanity chain,
by Brazin Ltd (BRZ).

Discl. I own BRZ


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