SAN FRANCISCO, CA (Ecast Inc.) - Ecast, which owns, licenses and enables the proprietary technology on which thousands of broadband-enabled, commercial jukeboxes run, has secured the rights to sell plays of more than 10,000 songs from hundreds of independent bands ranging from rock and underground hip-hop to modern-classical and Dixieland jazz, through a deal with the Independent Online Distribution Alliance, which represents their work in cyberspace.
The deal could help level the playing field for a host of independent artists and record labels by affording them instant access to millions of listeners via Ecast-powered, digital downloading jukeboxes, thousands of which are currently up and running in restaurants, nightclubs and bars nationwide.
Over the period beginning March 1, 2003 through March 1, 2004, Ecast logged over 39 million plays on the company's broadband-enabled devices in restaurants, nightclubs and bars nationwide. During that time, Ecast has seen the number of plays on its Location-Based Broadband Network climb month after month, with a 56 percent gain in the number of plays in March 2004, over March 2003.
"Ecast is helping IODA realize their goals by providing independent artists and record labels with a powerful new outlet for bringing their music to popular attention," said Lisa Tiver, vice president of rights and licensing. "The imminent availability of IODA's expansive catalog on our Location-Based Broadband Network will allow us to give music fans across the country immediate access to the music they want, whether it is on a major record label or independently released."
The IODA agreement also underscores Ecast's commitment to providing music fans with the largest selection of recorded music available on any jukebox. Furthermore, the pact gives copyright owners a way to distribute their music profitably and securely via the Internet, while stemming the digital piracy tide.
"Most innovative and groundbreaking musical trends these days come from artists with roots in the independent music world," said Kevin Arnold, IODA's chief executive. "This deal gives the artists and labels that IODA represents yet another way to grow their audiences by tapping into Ecast's national broadband jukebox network."
IODA plans to promote its artists on the Ecast jukebox network through on-screen ad spots, which have been used successfully by recording artists such as Jimmy Buffett and the Wallflowers to drive plays over the company's Location-Based Broadband Network. The ads are set to play automatically on the touch screen monitors that are used by customers to make their song selections when the jukeboxes are left idle.
"In many ways, Ecast has put the promotional power of radio inside the jukebox," said Glenn Streeter, who owns the Rock-Ola manufacturing corporation, which has been manufacturing jukeboxes since 1935, and which makes several Ecast-powered models. "In the early days, jukeboxes were one of the main ways people became introduced to new record albums and where they often discovered music that was outside of radio's play lists. Ecast's technology has revitalized one of the oldest tavern fixtures," he continued.
Record labels added to Ecast's music offering through the deal with IODA include 30 Hertz Records, Absolutely Kosher, Amazing Grease Records, Badman Recording Co, Birdman Records, Corazong Records, Coup d'Etat Entertainment, De Soto, Devil in the Woods,
ESP-Disc, Fortune Records, Gearhead Records, Hieroglyphics Imperium, Loveless Records, M.C. Records, Pitch-a-tent Records, Quannum Projects, Rubric Records, and many others.
Artists from IODA's label roster include: Billie Holiday, Blackalicious, Camper Van Beethoven, Casual, Cracker, Dee Dee Ramone, Del The Funky Homosapien, Dismemberment Plan, Greg Kihn, Innocence Mission, Jah Wobble, John Lee Hooker, Kim Wilson, Mary Lou Lord, MC Paul Barman, My Morning Jacket, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Ornette Coleman, Pinback, Preston School of Industry, R.L. Burnside, Sun Ra, The Hives, The Mountain Goats, The Ocean Blue, The Posies, The Rum Diary, The Wrens, Vendetta Red, and dozens of others.
The majority of the IODA collection is expected to be available on all Ecast-enabled broadband jukeboxes by the end of summer, with new albums to be uploaded as they are released.
