Cable giant TCI has quietly been assembling an independent small cap company-TCI Music/Sonicnet for a move into the fast approaching internet music boom.
Those that follow NTKI and CDNW know that music on the net will be a huge business- larger even than the success that AMZN has had with the book market.
But TUNE seems to have its eyes on a an even larger market- they aim to become the internet's version of MTV- a worldwide 24 hour video channel network
Here's their site
sonicnet.com
TUNE seems to be setting itself up to take internet music commerce
1 step further. This year rewritable DVD will become standard in most PCs; and TUNE with its backing from TCI will be in a position to be a leader in music + video distribution. In other words- see a music video clip; download the music+video to dvd disc via TCI's cable connection-pay via ecommerce.a See it-buy it experience if there ever was one.
About the stock-as other internets have run-up this one remains largely unknown. TUNE trades just under 8 and comes with a right;the right guarantees that TCI will buy all TUNE shares from holders at 8 if the stock does not trade above 8 for 20 consecutive days prior to july 98.
Now the good part; TCI also owns a chunk of ATHM; cnet briefly mentioned that TUNE and ATHM have been in talks-
news.com
"In addition, the company is laying the groundwork
to strike deals for providing music to high-speed
Internet access providers, such as the Australian
telco Telstra and @Home, whose major
stakeholder is TCI. SonicNet already has held talks
with @Home, executives said."
So how much is a world wide internet MTV-backed by a cable industry giant -aiming at music/video commerce market and in talks with the leading cable internet service ATHM -worth in this market?
More than fridays close- 7 7/8 to be sure.
Count me in |
