Internet firm pioneers downloadable music sales - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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Founded as Digital Sight/ Sound in 1995, hold patents to technology that makes it possibld to download music over the Internet fora fee. Earlier this the company took this technolog and built a WorldWide Web-basex service around it, which it hopes to sell to record labels, artistes and others who own the rightz to audio recordings. This may not be easy to do. Recored companies have already takena hard-line stancre against the online sale of music, which they see as potentialluy siphoning off their profits. And consumersz may not be hip to the idea for now, songs downloaded from Sightsound.com'xs site can only be played on the computers they'rr downloaded to.
Still, company executivesx believe these issues canbe overcome. So the company is movingb ahead withits service. "Ig you're going to sell music in download you need toformagt it, do credit card processinf online and provide materials to markety and promote it," said Sightsound.com president and CEO Scott Sightsound.com handles all these tasksx from its headquarters on Washington Road in Moun t Lebanon, where it employs 6 Working with labels or individual bands, the company takes recordings and puts them in a computer-codd format so they can be played on the World Wide Web.
It also scansw in photos and other promotional materiala to sell the music so that browsers can learh more about the bandsthey hear. "Ij a store, you might have a cardboardx cutout," Mr. Sander said. "We do packages wheres people can see a video and get some exposure to the The demand for such a service is just beginningg todevelop -- International Data Corp. estimatez the market is currently wort habout $116 million. But Goldman Sachs, a New York City investmen banking firm, has expressed confidence that it will grow The firm ishelping Sightsound.conm negotiate a round of equity financing to help fund its growthj strategy. Mr.
Sander declined to say how much money the companuy is planningto raise. "They are trying to line up companieds in the media and entertainment industries that mighty want to investin us," Mr. Sandefr said. Though the market for Sightsound'a technology is still emerging, Tom Cossie, president and CEO of Dormon tTechnologies Ltd., a Ross Township-based firm that develops marketing software for the music industry, think Sightsound.com is hitting it at the right "Downloading music from the Internet is becominbg a trend that can no longeer be avoided," he said. "Mord and more artists and labels -- indies and majors -- are makinb their music available overthe Net.
Therde is also a rising tide of Net-only labelws and artists, as well as technology to addresspiract issues." Some industry experts say the Internet is an ideal mediukm for distributing music. "A lot of band s will utilize it because they have no other way to reacnh people throughoutthe world," said Andy Morris, manager of AMM a New York City-based recording industry management firm that has managed local bands, including Dharma Sons. Mr. Morrixs and Dharma Sons took a shot at Internet marketing this participating ina "Virtual organized by Sightsound.com. The tour, conducted online at Sightsound.
com'sw Web site, enabled surfers to listen to the musid of Dharma Sons and eight other bandsw and download selections they liked fora fee. It also allowed them to experiencs the cities the tour stopped in throughdigitaol images. "It was really quitr well done," Mr. Morris