Critiquing and Cashing In
THERE ARE ONLINE magazines and online music stores. Now, one company is trying to wear both hats-selling recordings and reviewing them on the same Web site.
Last month, Nashville, TN-based First Media Communications Inc. debuted Musicdirect.com, a Web site offering more than 250,000 CDs, audiotapes, digital video discs and videotapes for sale, as well as the music publication Review Online.
The company got its start three years ago when it launched New Series Review, an independent music magazine covering new talent. The publication’s influence grew quickly, says First Media president James Berk. A profile of Martin Sexton led to the folk artist being signed by Atlantic Records.
Promo Machine The new site (www.musicdirect.com) seriously promotes Review Online-New Series’ cyber incarnation-as a tool to help users decide what to buy, providing reviews, interviews, music news and feature stories.
The Web was a natural for the venture. As Berk notes, selling music online is only about one-third the cost of marketing tunesat retail. And it’s even cheaper than traditional DM, because it requires fewer employees and lacks certain fixed costs such as paper and postage, he adds.
For its Web operations, Music direct.com has contracted with Muze Inc., which provides an extensive music database; Enso Audio Imaging, an online audio sample producer; and Valley Media/iFill, for inventory and fulfillment services. It has also inked distribution and licensing deals with Atlantic Records, DreamWorks SKG, MCA Music Publishing, Sony Music and Warner Bros. The site was built by Fry Multimedia Inc., Ann Arbor, MI.
To connect with a wide audience, the company plans to run direct response space ads in magazines ranging from USA Today to The New Yorker to Mademoiselle, says Berk. It’s also putting together prospect mailings that will be sent to rented files, and is looking at other forms of traditional direct marketing.
A Lesson Learned A quiet launch of the site last winter already taught the company one of the most important lessons any DMer needs to learn, says Berk: “How important customer service is.”
