Barry Willis

FTC: No More Minimum Advertised Pricing on CDs
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Barry Willis  |  May 14, 2000  |  0 comments
Retail prices of compact discs are likely to drop in the coming months, thanks to a Federal Trade Commission action ending an industry-wide price-support policy begun five years ago. On May 10, the FTC announced that it had reached an agreement with the "Big Five" of the music business—Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Music, Seagram Ltd.'s Universal Music, Sony Music Entertainment, BMG Entertainment, and EMI Group PLC—that will effectively end the practice of "minimum advertised pricing" (MAP) instituted as a response to music-retailing price wars in the mid-1990s. Under MAP, retailers were forbidden to advertise CDs below an established minimum, at the risk of losing millions of promotional dollars from the record labels.
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Toshiba Announces E-commerce Plan
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Barry Willis  |  May 07, 2000  |  0 comments
In early June, Toshiba will institute a new retailing program that embraces the Internet but favors traditional retailers. The electronics manufacturing giant will have "a defined group of Internet retailers" that will be built on a base of traditional retailers, according to an announcement made in late April. Later, the program will be expanded in stages to include Internet-only retailers. The announcement follows an announcement by Sony Corp. late in January that Sony would begin direct Internet sales this year.
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Sony, Universal Join Forces for Subscription Music Service
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Barry Willis  |  May 07, 2000  |  0 comments
It's mating season for entertainment-industry giants. Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group are in talks to develop a jointly operated subscription music service for the Internet, according to a report the two companies issued in the first week of May. The news followed by only a week an announcement of a possible merger between record clubs Columbia House and BMG Music Club.
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Judge to MP3.com: "Guilty as Charged"
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Barry Willis  |  Apr 30, 2000  |  0 comments
The roller-coaster fortunes of MP3.com took a downturn April 28, when US district judge Jed S. Rakoff found in favor of the Recording Industry Association of America in its copyright-violation suit against Internet music site MP3.com. Investors in the once–high-flying startup immediately began unloading shares of the company's stock, which had dropped 40% by the end of the trading day.
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Merger in Works for BMG, Columbia House?
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Barry Willis  |  Apr 23, 2000  |  0 comments
The world's two largest and most active music clubs may become one if preliminary talks between their parent companies bear fruit. Time Warner Inc. and Germany's Bertelsmann AG have conducted discussions with that outcome in mind, according to several reports appearing in late April.
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Despite Legal Pressure, Business Soars for MP3.com
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Barry Willis  |  Apr 23, 2000  |  0 comments
The numbers are looking better for MP3.com, the music-archiving site under attack by the Recording Industries Association of America and its allies. Despite the legal pressure, MP3.com has seen its revenues surge as the popularity of downloadable music continues to grow. On April 20, the San Diego–based company reported that its revenue increased to $17.5 million for the first quarter of 2000 compared to $666,000 for the same period a year earlier. MP3.com now has 10 million registered users, according to CEO Michael Robertson.
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Kennard's Low-Power Radio Plan Blocked by Congress
News
Barry Willis  |  Apr 16, 2000  |  0 comments
Congress has blocked a controversial plan that might have launched approximately 1000 low-power community radio stations. On Thursday, April 14, the US House of Representatives voted 274-110 in favor of a bill that would effectively kill development of about 80% of the stations. The vote was a blow to Federal Communications Commission chairman William Kennard, who has been a staunch supporter of the community radio movement, and a gift to the National Association of Broadcasters, which has long opposed low-power radio.
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NAB 2000: No Accord on Digital Radio Standards
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Barry Willis  |  Apr 16, 2000  |  0 comments
A single standard for terrestrial digital radio is still somewhere over the rainbow. Despite pressure from broadcasters to form an industry alliance, leading developers of the new technology are intent on pursuing their own courses, attendees learned at the 2000 National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas in mid-April. Executives from USA Digital Radio and Lucent Digital Radio, the two biggest players in the sector, told NAB members that their design and testing programs are still in early stages of development, too soon for accord.
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CDnow Comes Up Short as E-tailing Loses Luster with Investors
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Barry Willis  |  Apr 09, 2000  |  0 comments
Last year, Internet commerce schemes were the darlings of venture capitalists and small investors alike. For months, it seemed that almost any business plan, no matter how half-baked, could attract millions of dollars with the simple mention of "online retail sales"—otherwise known as "e-commerce" or "e-tailing."
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BMG to make Top Hits Available Online
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Barry Willis  |  Apr 09, 2000  |  0 comments
The age of downloadable digital music is showing signs of maturing. Territory that was explored by hobbyists, pirates, and startup companies eager to stake their claims will soon yield to the irresistible force of multinational conglomerates.
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