NEW
YORK (HSM/iHM) - Two aggressive young digital-music companies, Hip
Solve Media and iHoopla Music, today announced iHoopla Label Edition
software, which encourages consumers to share digital downloads and
unlocks a new, no-middleman business model for record labels and other
digital content owners.
The software, which is permanently
embedded in music and video downloads, transforms file-sharing, the
Internet-era bane of the entertainment industry, into a powerful, viral
selling tool.
iHoopla Label Edition software plugs into a
record label's existing website and is available with a variety of
customizable "skins" to help match the look and feel of the label
website. For a 5 cent fee per transaction to issue each DRM license,
content owners retain their profits and pay for the merchant account of
their choosing.
Consumers can store the iHoopla-protected
files they purchase by burning them directly to CD or by transferring
them to any portable media player that plays Microsoft's Windows Media
Audio files.
"Digital rights management is only the first step
in stemming the tide of digital-content piracy," said
David deValk,
co-founder of iHoopla. "Our unique approach to DRM development prevents
all iHoopla-protected files from subsequent illicit sharing."
California-located Hip Solve Media is the exclusive distributor of Microsoft-based iHoopla "Label Edition."
"iHoopla
technology is a critical step forward for content owners, who can now
issue their own DRM licenses in real time during sales transactions and
eliminate the need to outsource digital distribution to third parties,"
said T. Jack Foster III, president of Hip Solve Media. "Labels that
want to break out of the e-tailer middleman approach in delivering
their catalogs can now do so because we've taken a complex process and
made it very easy... and very affordable."
Key Features of iHoopla "Label Edition" Software
- Protects content for just 5 cents per track sold;
- Directs revenue instantly to merchant's own account;
- Gives merchant 100% control over what is sold and when;
Eliminates revenue splitting with middlemen e-tailers (such as iTunes, Rhapsody, etc.);
- Offers quick setup and turnaround;
- Turns file-sharing into viral selling tool;
- Reduces the need for web development staff and the cost of digital distribution;
- Provides real-time reporting of music sales;
- Offers new selling opportunities via DRM (e.g. bonus tracks on physical CDs); and
- Drives traffic to merchant websites via
https://goihoopla.com, a next-generation music search engine.
The companies also announced the first powered-by-iHoopla store, Muse-Wrapped Records, which is now live at
https://muse-wrapped.com.
Muse-Wrapped is exclusive digital distributor for Musea Records of
France and select independent artists, including Steve Walsh, best
known as Kansas' frontman and vocalist/keyboardist. Muse-Wrapped.com is
slated to include everything from commercially available in-print
albums to out-of-print albums and previously unreleased live
recordings.
More information on licensing iHoopla Label
Edition software is available by contacting Hip Solve Media at
1-800-507-1904, or by visiting
https://hipsolve.com. E-mail: e-mail protected from spam bots
