FirstLook.com - New Web Site Makes Finding New Music Easy; Launch Marks Innovative Way For Artists, Record Labels And Music Retailers To Market New Music
FirstLook.com (www.firstlook.com) has officially launched the world's premier online music previewing site where fans can quickly discover and sample the best new music across multiple music categories. The launch of FirstLook.com is not only a breakthrough for music fans, but also for artists, labels and music retailers who now have a fresh, efficient and cost-effective way to present new music to a targeted audience. ""Unlike traditional methods of music sampling, FirstLook.com plays to a willing, targeted audience who have come to the site to discover the best new music and sample a wide variety of songs,"" said Rand Bleimeister, Founder and CEO of FirstLook.com. ""FirstLook.com also provides an opportunity for artists, record labels and music retailers to take their marketing efforts to new levels."" FirstLook.com is unmatched in ease of use, convenience, design and attention to accessible and comprehensive information. The site was designed with songs presented in easy-to-access track lists so that visitors can quickly browse and sample music. The new site offers hundreds of songs across 10 music categories including Pop, Hip Hop, Alternative, Hard Rock, Dance, R&B, Country, Jazz, Latin and Classical. ""FirstLook.com is the first virtual listening station on the Internet,"" said Miles Copeland, personal manager and record company and publishing executive. ""We are excited by this because for the first time a consumer has the ready opportunity to hear the latest release not only from Superstars, but from up and coming new artists."" FirstLook.com is an idealab! company backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. ""We are proud to be a founding partner in MusicNow Inc., one of the most innovative companies within the Internet music and entertainment space. FirstLook.com is destined to have a profound impact on the music industry and fans alike,"" said Russell Siegelman, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. How FirstLook.com Works At FirstLook.com, visitors can quickly find and preview great new music. Music is separated into 10 music categories, allowing fans to choose a category they like and then click on songs they want to hear from the easy-to-use list format. When a visitor clicks on a song, the song begins streaming and a pop-up window appears which can contain a variety of information, including CD graphics, a brief artist bio, review copy, additional preview tracks and a ""buy it"" button linked to a retailer. This pop-up window is an interactive ad for the CD, the artist and the retailer. Nowhere else on the Internet can music consumers find hundreds of the newest tracks from new and established artists listed in one place, organized by music category, where dozens of new tracks can be sampled and reviewed in minutes. If a music consumer listens to the radio they are likely to hear 12 songs each hour - and only a few of these tracks will be new songs. At FirstLook.com, they can sample 12 songs in 5 minutes and every one of them will be fresh and new. There is no more efficient way for music consumers to browse, sample and find the best new music! Registered users at FirstLook.com can rate songs on a 1 to 5 star scale. This enables visitors a chance to provide real-time feedback directly to the artists and record labels. Phase Two of FirstLook.com will allow registered users to customize their FirstLook.com experience based on their individual tastes, request e-mail notification as new music that fits their tastes is posted on the site and post their feedback to artist bulletin boards. FirstLook.com is an advertiser-supported web site. FirstLook.com advertisers include record labels, independent artists and music retailers. Advertisers list songs on FirstLook.com. The advertiser's message is contained in the pop-up window that appears each time a consumer clicks on a song. Each time a consumer clicks on a song, the advertiser pays a small ""click-through"" fee to FirstLook.com. The greater the click-through fee, the higher the advertised song is positioned on its track list. There are 10 track lists -- one for each of 10 music categories - at FirstLook.com. Songs may be advertised in all appropriate music categories. What is particularly unique about the FirstLook business model is that there is no more efficient way to advertise music on the Internet to a targeted audience of music consumers. FirstLook.com enables advertisers to set the price of their ad - they choose the amount per click they are willing to spend - and only spend when consumers click on their songs. FirstLook.com is the first music Web site where retailers, record labels, and individual artists can cost-effectively advertise music -- building audiences for new music and driving purchases online. The low cost of FirstLook.com's pay-per-click advertising model enables unsigned artists and indie artists the ability to secure preferred positioning alongside acts from major labels on each FirstLook.com track list. Songs can be advertised for as little as $0.01 per click. For example, a band or record label could reach 20,000 active music consumers for $1,000 (at $0.05/click). No other Web site provides music makers a marketing advertising vehicle that guarantees an audience of targeted music listeners. FirstLook.com consumers are teens and college students to whom music is important and new music is vital. They are the kids who ""start"" records, who discover new bands and create the buzz around them that makes them become the stars of tomorrow. ""A marketing tool like FirstLook.com provides an excellent cost-effective resource for quickly getting new music out to music enthusiasts around the world,"" said Al Cafaro, former chairman of A & M Records, Inc. ""This benefits not only the music industry, but music fans everywhere who can insure themselves ready access to all kinds of new music regardless of what radio happens to be playing."" About FirstLook.com Los Angeles-based FirstLook.com is part of the MusicNow Network of music Web sites dedicated to meeting the marketing and promotion needs of artists and labels. Woodstock.com, the first Web site in the network, was launched in March 1999 and made history by Webcasting the Internet's largest music event to date. FirstLook.com is the second site to launch in the MusicNow network. MusicNow is an idealab! company, backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, a leading venture capital firm, and Woodstock Ventures, owners of the Woodstock Music Festival and trademark. For more information visit the site at www.firstlook.com.