I've done some browsing. The site is still being uploaded and is not yet announced, so there are some gaps and bugs. I have quibbles with some things, but am reserving judgment until the whole site is loaded and publicly announced. It's still too early to tell exactly what we have here; the live-concert stuff isn't available yet, and that's what I'm most eager to see. (I think that's the most unique offering, far more exciting than CD samples and whatnot.) There's definitely great potential, although it's going to take some time to tap into the full potential of the concept they've got.
It's important to keep in mind that they'll have more revenue streams, beyond the pay-per-listen, to plug in as we go along. Mr. Roth said they'll be partnering up with a music sales site soon, and we'll be seeing advertising and merchandising as well. At this point, these don't appear to be incorporated yet, but they're on the way. (The concert branch of the site may include some of this; but, like I said, this content hadn't been loaded yet when I looked at the site.)
The entertainment site is obviously an exciting concept in itself, but it's also a great platform for promoting the audio technology, which I sampled again this morning and which sounds superb. It's going to be exciting to see this technology make an impact on the industry; it is by far the best streaming audio I've experienced online, even at 28.8. I can't imagine that we won't see some serious market penetration with this excellent proprietary technology. And with the video technology following. . . . |
