MP3.com To Go Dark On December 2 :: The T Sector :: = Everything Tech San Diego

T = Sectors=20 =20 Software=20 & Internet

MP3.com=20 To Go Dark On December 2

Monday, November = 24, 2003=20 - 09:44 AM PST

Silence is Not = Golden; A=20 Quarter Million Independent Recording Artists = Silenced;=20 40 Million Subscribers Stranded

Over = 250,000=20 independent recording artists will be abandoned = next=20 week when MP3.com goes dark on December 2. = MP3.com was=20 acquired ten days ago by San Francisco based = C-Net. The=20 company has announced it will scrub MP3.com's = servers of=20 all content at midnight next Tuesday. The move = will=20 strand some 40 million MP3.com subscribers = worldwide.=20

MP3.com made its mark as "the world's = largest=20 internet music community." With 40 million = subscribers,=20 the system has been regarded as the largest = internet=20 music system in the world.

"It's been a = powerful=20 force," says Johnny Jolin, lead singer for The = Front=20 Porch Country Band. With a million plays, his = band=20 became the most listened-to country recording = artist in=20 the world over the last 15 months on the giant = internet=20 system. "MP3.com enabled our music to compete on = a level=20 playing field with the world's greatest country=20 legends."

His band has seen a dozen of = their=20 original songs climb to Number One in the world = on the=20 MP3.com charts, where 1.6 million songs compete = for=20 chart position every day in overnight rankings. = That=20 international exposure brought The Front Porch = Country=20 Band to the attention of The US-CHINA Foundation = last=20 fall. Earlier this spring, the band accepted the = foundation's invitation for a fully-paid tour as = stadium=20 headliners through China's largest cities - a = huge=20 career break for the band.

Major stars = including=20 Kenny Rogers, Faith Hill, Willie Nelson, Dolly = Parton,=20 Nickel Creek and Alison Krauss & Union = Station also=20 currently offer their music on their official = MP3.com=20 sites.

MP3.com was the brain-child of = Michael=20 Robertson, who launched the company in 1997. = Featuring a=20 blend of major and independent artists, the site = quickly=20 took off. By 2000, MP3.com had amassed 40 = million=20 subscribers - featuring 1.6 million songs by = over=20 250,000 recording artists available to music = listeners=20 worldwide. In 2001, the company was sold to = global media=20 giant Vivendi Universal. Vivendi sold the = company to=20 C-Net on November 14th.

But next week, = the=20 system goes dark. Where will those 250,000 = recording=20 artists and 40 million music subscribers head=20 next?

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