DVDs are definitely a hot-selling video format, but it may take some time for the new DVD music discs to catch on.
New classical and jazz titles in the DVD format became available this month at the Virgin Megastore on Sunset Boulevard. On the first night, excited customers bought up 30 percent of the store’s DVD music stock, but sales have slowed since then.
Many consumers are leery of the new format, especially after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a decade ago replacing their LPs with CDs. DVD music discs can’t be played on regular CD players. They work only on DVD computer or TV players. Some consumers fear they’ll have to replace their entire CD music collections to keep up with the new format.
Virgin officials are quick to point out that isn’t necessarily the case. CDs can be played on DVD players, so there’s no need to toss out the old discs.
“You can keep your CDs and get DVDs to complete your collection,” said Anthony Deen, vice president of retail development for Virgin Entertainment. “There will be gems people will be interested in.”
Those gems might be remastered recordings, but most likely the best recordings will be new arrangements composed specifically for the DVD music format.
DVD music discs are meant to be played in six-channel surround sound. (The discs can also be listened to in traditional two-channel surround sound or over a two-speaker stereo set-up, but that sort of defeats the point.)
“At first it’s a little disconcerting,” Deen said of six-channel surround sound. “It’s like being right up on a bandstand. So that’s interesting, to hear part of the music play behind you.”
While the discs are currently only available at the Sunset Megastore, they’ll be hitting shelves in Burbank soon, and then will be rolled out chain-wide.
Got a business plan?
If you needed more proof that financiers are no longer looking for big-idea dot-coms, consider the winner of the best student business plan award chosen by the USC Lloyd Grief Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.
Channel IP, the grand prizewinner, will provide a central location for broadcasters and others to buy and sell satellite bandwidth. The company’s founder has been working on the project for several years while a student at USC, and it officially launches in August.
“(The award) was good for all of our egos,” said Mark Galton, the company’s founder, who now oversees technology and sales.
While working at the satellite company Globecast Satellite Broadcasting, Galton saw that companies renting satellites to beam data would pay heavily for satellite time, even though they weren’t using all the bandwidth available. He envisioned a central Internet repository where broadcasters and others could buy satellite bandwidth from major providers and auction off any extra unneeded bandwidth to other companies.
Channel IP has already received a favorable response and commitment from companies such as Walt Disney Co., E! Entertainment Television, Paramount Pictures, Fox Sports and Warner Bros. Those companies use satellites to broadcast their television programming.
Allowing them to go online and work within a centralized system will bring new efficiency to the satellite bandwidth procurement process, Galton said.
While the company is primarily targeting television broadcasters, more and more companies are emerging that use satellites to stream content over the Internet. Channel IP plans to expand its services in the future to include other wireless distribution modes.
Channel IP is currently raising capital and plans to close a round of funding in the next three weeks.
Tickets by hand
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch is bringing its ticketing and city guide services to the palms of customers’ hands.
As of May 19, customers in 32 cities now have access to Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch’s content and ticketing services through Internet-enabled phones from the major cellular carriers, or through properly equipped Palm Pilot personal digital assistants. The new services are available after months of behind-the-scenes deal making with cellular phone firms.
The Pasadena-based company believes people need entertainment and recreation information when they’re out and about, not just when they’re sitting at a computer. The key customer base includes travelers shuttling through unfamiliar cities, as well as local people who are looking for movie times or a nearby restaurant while on the road.
Just as an Internet company would carefully watch its Web site’s usage and e-commerce transactions, TMCS plans to carefully monitor its handheld traffic.
“We’ll watch our usage relative to the number of phones in the market,” said Paul LaFontaine, vice president of TMCS Mobile, the division of the company focused on bringing its services to mobile devices.
Staff reporter Laura Dunphy can be reached at [email protected].
Site of the Week www.thebrain.com
TheBrain.com, alas, doesn’t offer mind-control techniques; it’s another search engine, but a very different kind from the rest on the Web.
In a unique format, TheBrain organizes information in the form of a tree-like chart. One central topic is branched out to related subtopics, so users can easily browse around within a given search category. Links to related sites appear listed at the bottom of the page.
Most search engines are useful for searching a specific keyword, but TheBrain’s structure is best for browsing around. Put in a word, and it will connect to a tree of related topics, many of which the user might never have thought of. Not all of them, of course, are useful, but some are.
It can be a challenge to find something specific, though. Click on “shopping” and it should be easy to find a site selling lip balm, right? After clicking on numerous “health and beauty” categories, locating lip balm seems too difficult a task. Plus, searches often reveal a limited number of results.
The good news is, this is the site’s beta Brain. Perhaps the final Brain will live up to its name.
