Inside A Makeover

Newsweek explores how music-industry giants are retooling in an attempt to survive the digital future.

"All of the labels share similar visions of providing music to the consumer wherever, whenever and however he or she wants it. The path to get there, however, remains murky. EMI Music CEO Alain Levy, the industry veteran who built Polygram into a success before selling it to Universal, sees five digital business models emerging so far:

-- downloads to PCs, downloads to mobile

-- subscriptions

-- ring tones, tunes (original songs)

-- ringbacks (which the caller hears)

-- peer-to-peer

.. . All the labels are experimenting. One of Levy's secret weapons is Ted Cohen, head of digital development and distribution.

One of his discoveries is WideRay, a Bluetooth technology that can "ping" (message) people as they go past and offer a product.

EMI tried it in London, beaming a Coldplay screensaver to passersby. The company is now testing a prototype in the United States that would allow a customer entering a store the option of opening his or her cell phone to "pings" including click-on songs, ring tunes or artist biographies, all catering to the tastes of repeat customers.

Cohen is also working with Microsoft on a service for airports that allows passengers to upload five hours of music to rent, with an option to mark certain songs to buy".

emily | 9:48 AM | News, Buzz |
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/ringtonia/archives/2005/09/009949.htm