Digital Jukeboxes In Your Diner

The next time you’re in a diner or restaurant, find out where the music’s coming from. It may just be a digital jukebox player playing the tunes. And most likely, the device is from Ecast.

Ecast is a provider of digital jukeboxes that connect to the Internet supplying songs to music fans willing to plunk down the money. Much like MP3.com, eCast is going after this retail market; unlike MP3.com, eCast went to the labels first to get songs from them.

So far, Ecast has been rolling out in test cities, with more on the way, once the company officially rolls out.
Q: Your site says that you are an "Interactive Entertainment Network." Can you explain what that means?

Our actual product is a software platform that delivers and manages broadband content.

Q: Is that the Siren?

Siren is our first product line, the internet-enabled jukeboxes and countertop gaming stations. Because our product is the software platform itself, we want to demonstrate its purpose without being in an actual product line, just like Palm computing put out its first products by itself, and now makes most of its money by licensing the platform and operating applications. We’re similar because we power the hardware. The hardware isn’t part of our business model at all, and within a couple of weeks we’ll be making the announcement about partner companies taking over all of the manufacturing.

Q: So, the jukeboxes and game stations were created in order to show what the platform could do?

Yes, the reason we’re making them right now is to demonstrate what the platform can do. Once our manufacturing partners saw what it could do, they were willing to take over the manufacturing.

Q: So, this allows you to just concentrate on the platform.

Our core competency is internet software, involving three pieces: First is the backend database of content including the database that it’s stored on and the network infrastructure that keeps it there in our data center. We have a network infrastructure which is a currently a Java-based, Marimba-based platform--that’s how we are getting the bulk of our content from the database to the appliances. We’re calling them "broadband appliances" because an internet-enabled jukebox is really nothing more than a broadband appliance. So that’s currently how it’s delivered and managed through a Java infrastructure. Running locally on the machines, or rather a combination of locally and web-based, we have applications such as "Music Play," "Music Search," "Music Selection," ecommerce capabilities, and a whole range of games. We’re talking to a major gaming company about doing an internet-based tournament of a popular golf game. We always describe ourselves to users in terms of the applications that people interface with, but we’re providing a whole end-to-end solution.

Q: So you license or create the content, but it’s really about the whole package that you offer?

Our most compelling content is licensed. We’re licensing all of the music, which is a really important part of our model. That’s one of the reasons we aren’t going to be at the MP3 conference; we’re one of the ones who decided to go about things the hard way by going to the labels first and getting their permission.

Q: Are you using the MP3 file format?

We’ve migrated to the Windows Media format. That’s the format that we store it and play it in, and ultimately the format we’ll probably stream it in.

Q: Speaking of streaming, how fast are the Internet connections on the jukeboxes?

Right now, because of the state that streaming is in, it doesn’t allow for CD-quality streaming of music for jukebox purposes. Because we’re going into public venues where people have an expectation of CD-quality sound, they won’t tolerate music that sometimes stops to buffer--they just won’t. For right now, we’re playing music locally. We push entire albums down at night when operators and venue owners request them. We also allow patrons to pull individual songs when they’re not already stored locally

Q: When will the music actually be streamed?

We have every reason to believe that the future is moving towards streaming, and so we are currently working on our streaming strategy. We haven’t made any decisions that we can announce yet. We’re talking with everybody. We believe that our timing is in-line with the timing of the market and the state of technology in terms of when actual CD-quality streaming sound is going to be available. When it’s available, we’ll be out there with it.

Q: You said that you’ve already worked out licensing agreements with major labels. If I was using the jukebox at a bar, would I be able to find more or less anything?

We have at least as many (major labels), in ink, as MP3.com has--plus our licenses are better because we have the right to play local copies on-demand…which we consider very important.

Q: MP3.com has 2 of 7 major labels?

There are 5 majors, and they have 2. Our official release will probably go out in July, and we anticipate deals with 4 or 5 out of the 5. The big 5 are, as I’m sure you’re aware, and in no particular order: Sony, Warner, EMI, BMG, and Universal.

Q: What about independent labels?

We already have a number of those in ink already. One of them we already announced is eMusic, who have licenses with a large number of independents. We consider independents very important and we’re going about it the old fashioned way of talking to the labels, talking to the publishers, and making sure that everyone’s rights are protected. We fully believe that the labels aren’t going to go away and we want to make sure that digital technology is used in a way that protects everyone’s rights… no matter what anybody as an individual might think about "who gets too much money or too little money." We’re being very careful to follow the rules.

Q: Your site indicates that someone who really likes what they are hearing can purchase that music. How does that work?

Yes, that a really important part of our product. We believe that on-demand purchasing is a key part of the interactive consumer process. The way it works now is that you hear a song on the jukebox, you love the song, so you look at the jukebox, see what’s playing, and choose "buy now." Right now it’s set up to take you to Amazon.com and the album is put into your shopping cart. In the future, we hope to ultimately obtain permission to do a number of other things such as transfer the music directly to someone’s Palm Pilot, or Rio player. Our machines are USB and IRDA enabled. When we do receive permission from the labels, and we do believe it is coming, someone will be able to securely buy music and download directly to their portable device.

Q: Any plans to burn CDs?

We have the feeling that probably won’t be as popular as having a CD mailed to you overnight, or emailed to you, or put into an online account, or downloaded to a portable device. It is something that our technology is capable of doing, we’re just not sure how interested our market is going to be in bringing home CD-ROMs from a public venue like a bar.

Q: Thinking of the big picture, your database is not just configured to support the jukeboxes and game stations, but also a range of broadband appliances in the future. What kinds of appliances do you envision?

Because we have a multi-functional platform, we can support any number of applications on it… like finding directions. For example, say you’re in Paris and you see one of our terminals in an outdoor park. The terminals support cameras so you can take pictures of yourself and your family on vacation and email them directly to your relatives. We’re under the philosophy that people are starting to enter into a culture where on-demand digital and internet technologies and content are becoming increasingly important to people. They want to be able to access the internet for communication purposes and they want to access libraries of digital content for entertainment purposes and they don’t (necessarily) want to go home or to their office to do this.

Q: And this is where Ecast comes in.

We are trying to take the most engaging, most enjoyable, and most useful applications and bring them directly to the people. That is a far more sophisticated proposition that one might at first imagine because it also means creating an interface that’s easy to use. One of the things we spend a lot of time doing here at Ecast is thinking hard about the user interface, making sure things make sense. It’s all touch-screen so buttons need to be large, understandable, and accessible. Commands need to be simple. Roadmaps to sites that are locally held or accessed online need to be very clear. We’ve thought hard about how a non-technical, non-computer savvy person approaches appliances outside the home.

Q: I know that you’re quite savvy. For people that may not know last year you were recognized as SF Women of the Web’s top 25 women of the web.

Oh, you’re talking about me?

Q: Yes, you, the Internet visionary! What do you think about the concern that the combination of broadband connections, CD-burners, Napster clones, and other modern goodies is going to kill the recording industry?

I think a couple of years ago I might have thought that too. As I’ve become increasingly intimate in the ways that the industry exists, I am completely skeptical that any major label or entertainment company is going to go away. When a lot of companies talk about killing the entertainment industry, or killing the big record labels, they’re not aware of what they’re up against. We’re talking about really well established, extremely powerful, very wealthy companies. They’re not going to be killed--it’s just not going to happen. This doesn’t mean there isn’t room in the marketplace for alternative music distribution and alternative digital media formats. I think the companies who show the labels how their technology and infrastructure can help the label go about the business of creating and selling content…those are the ones who will win.

Q: In ten years, will the major labels be where they are now? Will digital technology still be a threat?

If anti-trust enforcement continues to go down this road of tightening up, whereas in the last decade there had been a loosening of it, then I think that a lot of these companies may be put in positions where they have to think about restructuring.

Q: Would you say there’s a monopoly?

I don’t think there’s any monopoly right now; at least in terms of music, there are five big companies. When you’re talking about monopoly, you’re talking about one that owns the majority of the market share. There may be some argument to be made that too much power is going into too few hands. From my point of view and of Ecast in general, we’re just trying to make sure that we’re playing by the rules and we’re finding that playing by the rules is a good business strategy.

Q: What about the importance of the content itself?

People interact with content. They don’t interact with the machine that the content is delivered on. When we watch TV, we’re interacting with the content, not the machine that the content is delivered on. It’s the content that has the value, the content that draws people in. Good or bad, people want to see hit movies, they want to listen to Brittany Spears and Ricky Martin. Ecast is built on the philosophy that people want content when they want it, and where they want it. I feel very good working here because my own opinions are represented within the business model of the company.

Q: For people who are interested in checking out one of the machines, they’re currently in test cities?

Yes, six cities: Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas, and Boston.

Q: When is the official launch for people that don’t live in test cities?

We start to deploy around 100 units per month, starting in July.

Q: Will they primarily be in bars and restaurants?

Yes, primarily bars and restaurants. We plan to have at least as many units in the UK as we have in the US by the end of year. We’re looking to distribute content all over the world, which can be tricky because when you’re licensing content, the rules vary in different jurisdictions.

Q: In any case, you’re playing by the book.

Oh yeah, did I mention that?