June 8, 1999

On the heels of America Online's endorsement of one-to-one webcasting via its acquisition of Nullsoft and its SHOUTcast network, web publishing company Nanocosm, Inc. has launched an Internet service it says turns musicians and DJs into radio programmers.

Like SHOUTcast, Nanocosm's Live365.com is a streaming audio site that lets wired music fans and music venues use MP3 music to webcast original programming over the Internet.

But while SHOUTcast.com is a demonstration vehicle for Nullsoft's commercial webcasting technology, Live365.com's revenue model combines advertising, ecommerce and premium services for webcasters, such as additional streams and storage space. Currently, users are allocated 100MB of free server space, and streaming capacity to support 100 simultaneous listeners/viewers. Webcasters may either use Nullsoft's WinAmp software to relay original files to Live365.com, or store their files on Live365.com's server and let the site stream the content, according to Peter Rothman, chief technology officer for Live365.com.

Although Live365 does not currently compete with SHOUTcast.com head-to-head, America Online's recent acquisition could find Live365 competing with an AOL initiative to create a SHOUTcast-enabled community for amateur webcasters.

One reason amateur webcasters could find themselves attracted to Live365 is that the site allows programming in multiple formats, including RealAudio and Nullsoft competitor Icecast, according to Rothman.

For the time being, Rothman said, Nanocosm is not marketing the service to record labels, preferring to let music fans and creative talent establish the tone of the Internet radio service.

In March, SHOUTcast scored an impressive endorsement when Grand Royal, a Capitol Records-affiliated label founded by the Beastie Boys, began using Nullsoft's technology to webcast online programming of its own.

Currently, Live365.com offers streaming pop music from the 1980s, classical tracks, jazz and dance songs, as well as punk, rap and techno. Among the service's programmers are indie rock-oriented 31337 Radio, swing/blues/jazz site Dreamland Radio and Classical Hits.

To provide programming on the site, users agree to terms and conditions that include respect for copyrights and patents, a pledge not to webcast obscene, defamatory or libelous content, and accepting responsibility to comply with copyright and performance obligations.

But the company seems to be working out ways to help its webcasters comply with those liabilities. Rothman said Live365.com is currently negotiating with performing rights organizations ASCAP and BMI for licensing agreements covering music to which those organizations maintain rights.

The company also hopes to work with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to negotiate a webcasting license under terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

The DMCA is designed, in part, to let webcasters program commercial music on the Internet by detailing certain licensing and royalty fees owed to record labels and artists.

Although Live365.com is not a member of the Digital Media Association (DiMA), the trade organization negotiating DMCA licensing terms with the RIAA on behalf of webcasters, Rothman said his company "intends to abide by the results" of those negotiations.

In May, the RIAA signed its first webcasting license with musicmusicmusic, Inc., a Canadian company that operates the RadioMoi Internet radio station.

"The vast amount of server space and listener capabilities we provide will allow broadcasters to reach much larger audiences," said Alex Sanford, chief executive officer of Live365.com. "It paves the way for broadband community-building opportunities."

Live365.com enters a rapidly expanding market that, in addition to SHOUTcast, includes live or in-the-works systems from broadcast.com, GiveMeTalk (formerly TalkNetRadio), HearMe.com, Green Witch Internet Radio and Tranz-Send Broadcasting.

While Nanocosm is using music as its entry point to one-to-one webcasting, the company's "vision goes beyond music," according to Rothman. "Music is the hot thing now, but video and animation and other media" are in Live365.com's future.

Live365.com follows to market Nanocosm's first product, NanoHome, which allows users to create interactive, personal web spaces within three-dimensional atmospheres.

Reposted with Permission. Copyright 1999 Webnoize / Digital Music Network, Inc. - http://www.webnoize.com/