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Technology Stocks : MPPP - MP3.com -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bruce Byall who wrote (112)	7/9/1999 4:27:00 PM
From: Urlman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1116

Internet guru predicts MP3.com will do better that Liquid's 220% Liquid Audio IPO jumps 220 percent in debut By Reshma Kapadia NEW YORK, July 9 (Reuters) - Investors lapped up Internet music firm Liquid Audio Inc.'s(Nasdaq:LQID - news) initial public offering, driving the company's shares up as much as 220 percent after its debut at $15 a share. Liquid Audio offers software that artists and labels can use to encode music for digital playback over the Internet. The Redwood City, Calif.-based company also provides a distribution network. The stock traded as high as $48 a share on Friday. Liquid Audio shares were last up $24 at $39. The company raised $63 million after pricing 4.2 million shares at $15 -- above its expected price range of $10 to $12, demonstrating investors' demand for companies in the online music delivery business. Lehman Brothers(NYSE:LEH - news) was the lead underwriter on the deal. Analysts had expected strong gains from the company after musicmaker.com(Nasdaq:HITS - news) posted a 71 percent gain upon its debut earlier this week. Companies such as IBM Corp.(NYSE:IBM - news) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) also are developing Internet audio programs and are competing in the new sector.. ''It opened the door for another area for Internet investing,'' said John Fitzgibbon of Redherring.com of Liquid Audio's IPO. ''All you need for new doors to open is a recognizable deal to do well and the floodgates are opened.'' Liquid Audio had a lot of positives on its side, including an agreement with U.K. music giant EMI Group Plc(quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: EMI.L) to encode the world's third-largest music firm's large back catalogue for digital delivery. Private investment in Liquid Audio totals $30 million so far. Intel Corp.(Nasdaq:INTC - news) and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures have stakes in Liquid Audio. Jupiter Communications said in a report that only 3 percent of online consumers will buy downloaded digital music by 2003. Large record companies, which had opposed online music delivery because of piracy concerns, have started making forays into the area. However, analysts see this industry as a fledgling one with strong growth potential once it overcomes technological obstacles and standards are set. ''Given the interest in the sector (of music delivery via the Internet), I thought it would do well. MP3.com will do better,'' said Steve Harmon of Internet.com. MP3.com Inc., named after MP3, a popular technology to download music off the Internet, is slated to go public later in the month. One advantage, analysts noted, is that not only does MP3.com distribute music, it also is a portal site. MP3.com offers links to different software to play and code MP3, as well as links to music sites. In addition to being in this newly-hot sector, MP3.com has its highly recognized name and is linked with the direct standard for the industry that it helped create, analysts said.