Custom CD's:
Former Prodigy Inc. President Ed Bennett today is launching a start-up Web service that aims to grab a
piece of the increasingly crowded market for selling custom compact discs. The new company, dubbed
MY-CD, is backed by funding from Japan's Bandai Co. Ltd. - a media company perhaps best known in the
U.S. for developing the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series. MY-CD, like the handful of other
start-ups trying to establish themselves in the custom compact disc field, allows users to select via the Web
song tracks that are put on a recordable compact disc at a central production facility and then delivered to the
user.
Custom music services
Bennett is touting MY-CD as a packager of custom music services. The Web site, for instance, features
recommended song packages for specific music genres, such as romantic songs. Customers can listen to
samples of the song packages and replace them with other songs from the MY-CD library, Bennett said. The
company also offers custom titling on the disc itself, Bennett said. One potential business opportunity for
MY-CD will be teaming with celebrities who can select a package of songs, which then can be marketed to
fans. A mystery novelist, for instance, could select a sampling of songs that convey the feeling of mystery,
Bennett said.
"We are focused on being a marketing and packaging company, not a technology company," Bennett said.
"Your life is a movie. We can make the soundtrack." Licenses for 15,000 songs MY-CD now holds licenses
for 15,000 songs from 19 music studios. However, MY-CD has yet to sign a licensing deal with any of the
major music labels that hold the rights to most of the titles recognizable to average consumers. Bennett said a
rights deal with one of the major labels could come as early as next week. MY-CD plans to charge $16.95 for
each compact disc, Bennett said, plus $2.95 for shipping and handling. MY-CD can be reached at
my-cd.com
(Steven Vonder Haar, Inter@ctive Week Online) |
