I was an MP3.com artist:
Remember MP3.com?
Well, it looks as if you may be hearing certain MP3.com tunes piped as background sounds to “various retail businesses, restaurants and companies”. But only TruSonic – which this month announced it had acquired the truSONIC brand and related assets from MP3.com – knows exactly where.
“TruSonic was rolled out by Vivendi in 2002 using MP3.com technology,” says a San Diego Union-Tribune story here. “The company delivers music via the Internet to businesses, including offices, retailers and restaurants. Unlike traditional systems that use satellite signals or CDs, TruSonic’s system allows customers to insert and change advertising or other messages at any time from a central location.”
As part of the transaction, “TruSonic, Inc. also acquired licenses to more than 1.5 million songs by high-quality Independent Artists for purposes of distribution to businesses,” it says in a statement here, going on:
“These assets uniquely position TruSonic as a provider that supports different music strategies by offering a wide variety of business-specific and progressive musical styles.”
Put another way, this means MP3.com music could be heard by the masses in such outlets as Petco Pet Supplies, Spencer Gifts, Comp USA, Champs Sports, O’Charley’s Restaurants, Rubio’s Baja Grill, Great Clips Hair Salons, AMC Theatres, Books-A-Million Booksellers, Affiliated Foods Midwest, IGA Grocery Stores, HealthMart Pharmacies, the Minneapolis-St Paul Airport and the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, to name but a few.
With offices in La Jolla, California, and Seattle, Washington, Trusonic operates a “background music” and messaging service and, “In order to use the service, a TruSonic client must install a playback device in each of their business locations, then by access provided through a password protected account, select and schedule messaging and desired musical content from a variety of genre-specific, pre-sequenced playlists, says a FAQ here.
Another FAQ here goes into a little more detail. truSONIC is about “Terrific Music” offered to clients via playlists.
Cool. And if you’re a client, you can, “Insert promotions, audio advertisements or employee messages to your music playlists. In-store messaging features deliver highly targeted marketing messages at the point of purchase. Telephone-on-hold messaging connects with your existing phone systems and reaches customers while they wait on hold. You’ll have the ability to make updates within 24 hours.
“You can easily allocate ad space to outside advertisers as well as promote your own business. You can even give your advertisers detailed weekly reports to help them make media-buying decisions.”
And, “The “plug-and-play” hi-fi store unit requires minimal installation time and little or no maintenance. Playlists for multiple retail or business locations are centrally managed from a single online, password-protected account, so no action is required at the store level.”
Bet the folk at MP3.com never thought they’d end up creating muzak.
But anyway, at least some of their work will be heard. And maybe it’s like PT Barnum once said – “There’s no such thing as bad publicity,” or something to that effect. Of course Barnum (if it was Barnum) was talking about circuses.
In the meanwhile, does that mean from now on, after years of uncertainty, it’ll be plain sailing for all the musicians signed up at MP3.com – even if their music is is acting as soothing background to Mariah Johnes as she chooses the most effective brand of pet laxative?
“The main benefit for artists whose music is used in this program is increased public exposure to listeners who might not otherwise hear that music,” says TruSonic – or is it truSONIC? “An additional benefit is the royalties earned should your song be included in one or more playlists.”
I was an MP3.com artist …
… says sub-head # 4 on the first FAQ and continues, “I successfully logged in to my truSONIC Artist Admin Area for the first time, but there are fewer songs listed than I remember having enrolled in the truSONIC Music Program. Is something wrong? If you are an artist logging in to your truSONIC Artist Admin Area for the first time, you only will be able to view those songs currently included in truSONIC playlists that are performed in businesses that use the truSONIC Business Music Service. In the future, truSONIC hopes to add functionality that will enable you to view all your songs that are enrolled in truSONIC, whether or not they are included in such truSONIC playlists at a given time.”
And:
“As you will have noticed, your truSONIC Artist Admin Area provides only a limited set of administrative tools that are relevant to your continued participation in the truSONIC Music Program. It does not support any type of artist page that is accessible by the public.”
Oh. Um – Not accessible by the public?
Nope. Sorry.
Q: “When I try to log in to the truSONIC Artist Admin Area using my former MP3.com username and password, it does not recognize me as a truSONIC artist. Is something wrong?”
A: At this time, only artists who have songs currently included in truSONIC playlists that are performed in businesses that use the truSONIC Business Music Service can log in to truSONIC’s Artist Admin Area. As a result, you may not be able to access the truSONIC Artist Admin Area right now. In the future, truSONIC hopes to add functionality that will enable you to view all your songs that are enrolled in truSONIC, whether or not they are being actively performed in business environments at a given time.
Q: Based on the answer to the previous question, I’ve concluded that my music is not currently included in truSONIC playlists that are performed in businesses that use the truSONIC Business Music Service. Does this mean that truSONIC will never perform my music in such businesses?
A: No. Actually, truSONIC’s music programming staff is constantly rotating and modifying the independent music that is performed in the businesses that use the truSONIC Business Music Service. The fact that your music is not being actively performed in businesses at this time does not mean your music will not be selected in the future.
Q: How do I remove my music from the truSONIC Music Program?
A: You can remove your music from the truSONIC Music Program by clicking here.
