World Digital Media Group, L.L.C., (WDMG) today announced a partnership with LYCOS, Inc. to become the first music content provider for its newly launched proprietary entertainment platform Lycos Cinema.
Score another blow against the corporate tyranny of major record labels.
Beginning today, WDMG will provide LYCOS with 30-minute episodes of “City Sessions,” a high-definition show spotlighting recording sessions featuring hot indie bands from Dallas, Los Angeles, News York and Nashville, which can all be found at Lycos Cinema.
The Lycos proprietary “watch and chat” technology will give users the ability to watch up and coming musical talent while conversing about the shows at the same time.
“With Lycos Cinema, WDMG is able to build a mass audience for our ‘City Sessions’ bands, giving up-and-coming indie bands broad exposure without having to navigate the traditional record-label labyrinth,” said WDMG Chief Digital Officer Brad Smith.
“With access to the 25 million monthly visitors to Lycos each month, including the number one online destination for teens and tweens ages 13 to 24 with its Angelfire site, Lycos is a powerful player in Web-based content, and WDMG is proud to team up with such a visionary company.”
So now, new artists have yet another avenue in which to bypass the record labels altogether and gain exposure for themselves.
The days of hijacking royalties and shady DRM practices may soon be at an end for record companies. In 2007, digital music marketplaces will emerge which will offer content in unprotected, flexible formats that give total control to the consumer, thus loosening the grip that the label executives have long held on the distribution side of the equation.
And now with sites like Lycos Cinema, the control exerted over the discovery and exposure of new talent may be waning as well.
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Joe is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.
