CA&E: What demographic are you reaching out to with MusicGiants? And are there enough consumers or audiophiles looking for hi-fidelity downloads currently, or are you expecting a growth in the market segment?
SB: We're after anyone who's passionate about music and cares about sound quality. That's what we're offering. There are already approximately 40 million U.S. households that have 5.1-channel surround, or a high-end home stereo. And sound quality has been at the core of car audio since its beginning. So, to answer your question, it certainly seems like there are enough customers out there that will benefit from this.
We don't narrow the scope down to audiophile. The big market we're after are berphiles. These are the folks that buy the best of whatever they're into. People who put an aftermarket stereo system into their vehicle are clearly berphiles.
Bottom line, would you put regular gas into a Ferrari Enzo? I don't think so. Think about it, how many $10,000 stereos are installed into $5,000 cars? That's our customer. Why would you buy a super high-end car stereo if you're just going to plug an iPod into it? If that's the case, you might as well retain the factory stereo.
CA&E: Who owns MusicGiants?
SB: We're privately held. The people involved are coming out of the credit card and movie industry ... that being myself and John Williams, the president of the company.
CA&E: Can you tell us about your background-do you come from the computer industry, music, etc?
SB: I spent 15 years in the credit card industry, which experienced a situation similar to what the music industry is currently experiencing. Basically, it went though a period where it went from a physically distributed product to one that's electronically distributed.
CA&E: Besides the deal with the major music labels, do you have deals lined up with independents to offer their music as well?
SB: Yes we do, and with a focus on high-quality music.
CA&E: How much is the cost of a download?
SB: $1.29.
CA&E: Do you currently have video downloads? And how much are they?
SB: Not yet, but it's something we're definitely looking at. Currently, we are encoding DVD-Audio and SACD into high-definition Window Media Audio Lossless format. Basically, we're taking these surround sound recordings and converting them into a downloadable format.
CA&E: You also offer hardware. Can you give us a rundown on the product(s)?
SB: MusicGiants' SoundVault is a professional-grade home music player preloaded with Window XP and the MusicGiants Network. It is capable of storing approximately 10,000 songs in high definition. Currently, we're marketing our service and SoundVault through high-end electronics retailers, custom audio/video installers and online.
We also rolled out the RoboRipper, the first fully automated robotic CD ripper that allows systems integrators to transfer a client's entire CD collection to a hard drive or media server while working on other parts of the house. And it delivers unparalleled sound quality duplication and imports all All Music Guide (AMG) metadata for each ripped CD. It works with any PC running Microsoft Windows XP, has a USB port and a broadband Internet connection.