To: Bill Harmond who wrote (57210 ) 5/18/1999 8:44:00 PM From: Glenn D. Rudolph Respond to of 164685
Rival hires away nearly half of AT&T online music team By Nicole Volpe NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - AT&T Corp.'s <T.N> bid to set standards for online music delivery was dealt a setback on Tuesday when nearly half the team it had developing ways to move music securely over the Internet was lured away by a rival. The announcement came as AT&T, the largest U.S. telephone company, moves into the cable television business, with its promise of high-speed Internet links over which music could be delivered swiftly along with data and video. Nearly half of AT&T's A2B digital music unit, including co-founders Larry Miller and Howie Singer, were recruited by Reciprocal Inc., another company racing to find ways to sell music online. Both analysts and former employees said they considered the exodus a setback to AT&T's efforts to move into a front-runner position in the emerging online music market. "The music business is a very relationship-oriented business," said Larry Miller, an A2B founder recruited to Reciprocal. "We have been there from the very beginning helping people in the music industry, and will continue those relationships." AT&T's A2B unit developed an encryption system to guard against unauthorized copying. The added security was meant to counter another widely used format known as MP3, a format that has raised concerns in the music industry as it seeks to maintain control of copyrights and profits. AT&T for its part disputed that half the team had left, saying it lost "a handful of contractors, one employee, and two former employees currently working as consultants." The A2B unit, formed about about a year and a half ago, had 35 dedicated team members, said spokeswoman Pam Stortz. She said the unit's work was considered increasingly important, and would be integrated into AT&T's research arm, AT&T Labs. "The A2B initiative was operating as a separate unit, and now is being integrated because it is seen as significant," she said. Jupiter Group analyst Mark Mooradian said AT&T would lose leverage with the music industry at a time when there is stiff competition from technology giants International Business Machines Corp. <IBM.N> and Microsoft Corp. <MSFT.O>. "This is absolutely a setback for AT&T," the Jupiter analyst said. "So much of securing the confidences of the music industry is about relationships, and the two most visible faces to the industry were Howie and Larry." The blow came as AT&T, with its growing cable interests, has begun to see online music as playing a more significant role in its future. But members of the core A2B team said they began to lose authority and entrepreneurial control of the unit. "I think we were effective as an agile start-up, with admittedly good resources," said Miller. "What became different for us in the past nine months, was that AT&T went from being a company with aspirations in the cable and broadband industry to a cable and broadband company." Privately held Reciprocal said about 15 former employees at AT&T's A2B operation, including the unit's founders, will work for its own digital music venture. Both Miller and AT&T said the actual number of employees was still in flux Tuesday afternoon. "These negotiations are ongoing as we speak," said one Reciprocal employee. AT&T is a member of the Secure Digital Music Initiative, a consortium of technology companies and record labels seeking ways to safeguard music online. 859-1700)) REUTERS Rtr 19:31 05-18-99