To: cicak who wrote (20573 ) 3/16/1999 7:48:00 AM From: KC650 Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 44908
I sure hope that the new PR firm comes on board much quicker than "shortly" !!
Look what I found........
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CDNOW is merging with NTKI (MUSIC BLVD) and will create the largest
online music company outselling even AMAZXON and is trading around 2 X
sales! Amazon is trading over 35X sales
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Driven by repeat sales to existing customers,
CDnow Inc. (CDNW) and N2K
Inc. (NTKI) expect 1999 revenue to reach $200 million, up from $98.5
million last year, according to
CDnow Chief Financial Officer Joel Sussman. The two online music
retailers, which are scheduled to close
their merger Wednesday, derived 53% of combined 1998 revenue from repeat
sales to existing customers,
Sussman said Monday during a presentation at the PaineWebber Internet
conference here. That percentage
should reach the 60% range this year and hit 70% in 2000, he said.
The merged company will reduce expenses by $20 million to $25 million
this year, Sussman said. Cutting its
450-member work force by 20% and marketing savings are among the ways
the company will trim expenses.
CDnow Chief Executive Jason Olim, speaking during the same presentation,
said the merger would also help
reduce the cost of new-customer acquisition.
During 1998, CDnow and N2K spent about $50 per new customer.
With about 1.7 million unique customers as of December 1998, the
combined company plans to use its
customer base to build its digital distribution business, Olim said.
This summer, customers will be able to use
MP3 or another digital technology to download music from the Web site.
Olim said CDnow and N2K have
already started to license music from independent record labels for that
purpose. It is unclear whether major
record labels will participate in the initiative, he said. While Olim
offered no predictions of how much revenue
digital distribution will produce, he said he expects the company to be
the leading player in that area.