More press stories:
Thursday June 3 1:33 AM ET
Emusic.Com Leads Internet Music Market March
By Scott Hillis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - EMusic.com Inc., which offers songs that can be
downloaded from the Internet, Wednesday debuted on the Nasdaq stock system, the
first of several such ventures to list shares as the business of selling music online gathers
steam.
EMusic.com is the new name of GoodNoise Corp. (OTC BB:GDNO - news), whose stock price previously
was listed on the Nasdaq bulletin board, a system for listing prices of public-company stocks that do not
qualify for the Nasdaq system.
Although shares in the Redwood City, California-based company shed $3.25 to $25.94 in its first day of
trading, analysts said they expected EMusic.com's offering to make it a strong player in Internet music.
''This will just fuel the interest and focus on online music, which has clearly picked up over the past several
weeks,'' said Geoffrey Sands, a vice president of research firm Booz-Allen & Partners.
He attributed the stock's fall to general apathy toward Internet shares, which have steadily fallen over the past
few days amid investor jitters over the sector.
Wall Street investment firm Warburg Dillon Read was bullish on the company, awarding the stock a ''buy''
rating and a price target of $39 per share.
''Unlike other companies which provide download technologies, EMusic.com is focusing on acquiring (music)
content which we believe will be the ultimate determinant of success in this business,'' Warburg said in a report.
EMusic.com officials were not immediately available to comment on how it met Nasdaq listing qualifications,
but one industry analyst said the company recently had won millions of dollars in private venture capital.
At least two other Internet music companies are planning to go public on Nasdaq in the next few weeks.
MP3.com, a popular San Diego Web site that lists thousands of songs for download in the popular MP3
format, has said it will make an initial public offering that it expects to raise about $115 million.
Liquid Audio Inc., another Redwood City firm that sells a pirate-proof way to download music and also runs a
music distribution network involving more than 200 Web sites, is also planning a stock offering on Nasdaq.
Hoping to keep abreast of the competition, EMusic.com Wednesday also unveiled a deal with King Biscuit
Entertainment Group to offer dozens of live recordings from artists such as David Crosby, punk rocker Iggy
Pop and blues band Canned Heat.
The site also sells thousands of songs from independent artists and smaller labels, and plans to post more
selections from King Biscuit, which owns an archive of live folk and classic rock music from televised concerts.
An album can be bought for $8.99 in either the MP3 format, which offers no copyright protection, or the
pirate-proof RealAudio format developed by RealNetworks Inc. Individual tracks are priced at 99 cents.
Separately Wednesday, MP3.com saw a potential legal headache vanish after it settled a copyright dispute
with PlayMedia Systems Inc., a software company that had sued MP3.com for distributing an MP3 playback
program it alleged contained proprietary code.
PlayMedia, which had also named the Nullsoft, maker of the disputed WinAmp MP3 player, said it had
settled the litigation with both companies and had entered a business relationship with MP3.com.
It gave no details of the settlement, saying only that the arrangement did ''not include the payment of stock or
cash specifically by MP3.com.''
source:Thursday June 3 1:33 AM ET
Emusic.Com Leads Internet Music Market March
By Scott Hillis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - EMusic.com Inc., which offers songs that can be
downloaded from the Internet, Wednesday debuted on the Nasdaq stock system, the
first of several such ventures to list shares as the business of selling music online gathers
steam.
EMusic.com is the new name of GoodNoise Corp. (OTC BB:GDNO - news), whose stock price previously
was listed on the Nasdaq bulletin board, a system for listing prices of public-company stocks that do not
qualify for the Nasdaq system.
Although shares in the Redwood City, California-based company shed $3.25 to $25.94 in its first day of
trading, analysts said they expected EMusic.com's offering to make it a strong player in Internet music.
''This will just fuel the interest and focus on online music, which has clearly picked up over the past several
weeks,'' said Geoffrey Sands, a vice president of research firm Booz-Allen & Partners.
He attributed the stock's fall to general apathy toward Internet shares, which have steadily fallen over the past
few days amid investor jitters over the sector.
Wall Street investment firm Warburg Dillon Read was bullish on the company, awarding the stock a ''buy''
rating and a price target of $39 per share.
''Unlike other companies which provide download technologies, EMusic.com is focusing on acquiring (music)
content which we believe will be the ultimate determinant of success in this business,'' Warburg said in a report.
EMusic.com officials were not immediately available to comment on how it met Nasdaq listing qualifications,
but one industry analyst said the company recently had won millions of dollars in private venture capital.
At least two other Internet music companies are planning to go public on Nasdaq in the next few weeks.
MP3.com, a popular San Diego Web site that lists thousands of songs for download in the popular MP3
format, has said it will make an initial public offering that it expects to raise about $115 million.
Liquid Audio Inc., another Redwood City firm that sells a pirate-proof way to download music and also runs a
music distribution network involving more than 200 Web sites, is also planning a stock offering on Nasdaq.
Hoping to keep abreast of the competition, EMusic.com Wednesday also unveiled a deal with King Biscuit
Entertainment Group to offer dozens of live recordings from artists such as David Crosby, punk rocker Iggy
Pop and blues band Canned Heat.
The site also sells thousands of songs from independent artists and smaller labels, and plans to post more
selections from King Biscuit, which owns an archive of live folk and classic rock music from televised concerts.
An album can be bought for $8.99 in either the MP3 format, which offers no copyright protection, or the
pirate-proof RealAudio format developed by RealNetworks Inc. Individual tracks are priced at 99 cents.
Separately Wednesday, MP3.com saw a potential legal headache vanish after it settled a copyright dispute
with PlayMedia Systems Inc., a software company that had sued MP3.com for distributing an MP3 playback
program it alleged contained proprietary code.
PlayMedia, which had also named the Nullsoft, maker of the disputed WinAmp MP3 player, said it had
settled the litigation with both companies and had entered a business relationship with MP3.com.
It gave no details of the settlement, saying only that the arrangement did ''not include the payment of stock or
cash specifically by MP3.com.''
source:Thursday June 3 1:33 AM ET
Emusic.Com Leads Internet Music Market March
By Scott Hillis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - EMusic.com Inc., which offers songs that can be
downloaded from the Internet, Wednesday debuted on the Nasdaq stock system, the
first of several such ventures to list shares as the business of selling music online gathers
steam.
EMusic.com is the new name of GoodNoise Corp. (OTC BB:GDNO - news), whose stock price previously
was listed on the Nasdaq bulletin board, a system for listing prices of public-company stocks that do not
qualify for the Nasdaq system.
Although shares in the Redwood City, California-based company shed $3.25 to $25.94 in its first day of
trading, analysts said they expected EMusic.com's offering to make it a strong player in Internet music.
''This will just fuel the interest and focus on online music, which has clearly picked up over the past several
weeks,'' said Geoffrey Sands, a vice president of research firm Booz-Allen & Partners.
He attributed the stock's fall to general apathy toward Internet shares, which have steadily fallen over the past
few days amid investor jitters over the sector.
Wall Street investment firm Warburg Dillon Read was bullish on the company, awarding the stock a ''buy''
rating and a price target of $39 per share.
''Unlike other companies which provide download technologies, EMusic.com is focusing on acquiring (music)
content which we believe will be the ultimate determinant of success in this business,'' Warburg said in a report.
EMusic.com officials were not immediately available to comment on how it met Nasdaq listing qualifications,
but one industry analyst said the company recently had won millions of dollars in private venture capital.
At least two other Internet music companies are planning to go public on Nasdaq in the next few weeks.
MP3.com, a popular San Diego Web site that lists thousands of songs for download in the popular MP3
format, has said it will make an initial public offering that it expects to raise about $115 million.
Liquid Audio Inc., another Redwood City firm that sells a pirate-proof way to download music and also runs a
music distribution network involving more than 200 Web sites, is also planning a stock offering on Nasdaq.
Hoping to keep abreast of the competition, EMusic.com Wednesday also unveiled a deal with King Biscuit
Entertainment Group to offer dozens of live recordings from artists such as David Crosby, punk rocker Iggy
Pop and blues band Canned Heat.
The site also sells thousands of songs from independent artists and smaller labels, and plans to post more
selections from King Biscuit, which owns an archive of live folk and classic rock music from televised concerts.
An album can be bought for $8.99 in either the MP3 format, which offers no copyright protection, or the
pirate-proof RealAudio format developed by RealNetworks Inc. Individual tracks are priced at 99 cents.
Separately Wednesday, MP3.com saw a potential legal headache vanish after it settled a copyright dispute
with PlayMedia Systems Inc., a software company that had sued MP3.com for distributing an MP3 playback
program it alleged contained proprietary code.
PlayMedia, which had also named the Nullsoft, maker of the disputed WinAmp MP3 player, said it had
settled the litigation with both companies and had entered a business relationship with MP3.com.
It gave no details of the settlement, saying only that the arrangement did ''not include the payment of stock or
cash specifically by MP3.com.'' |
