BigChampagne

Last updated
BigChampagne
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Internet
Metrics
Founded U.S. (2000 (2000))
Headquarters
Parent Live Nation Entertainment Ticketmaster
Website LiveNation.com

BigChampagne was a technology-driven media measurement company acquired by Live Nation Entertainment. [1] The BigChampagne dashboard was used primarily by music industry professionals such as concert promoters, venues, radio programmers, managers, agents, and marketers to access information about the popularity of artists and songs across radio airplay, online streaming, social activity, sales, and live events. BigChampagne provided a number of services related to producing business intelligence (BI) and competitive intelligence (CI) for users of the dashboard via access to proprietary data and data management (integration and analysis) combined with web applications and other technologies.

Contents

Background

BigChampagne was co-founded by Eric Garland, Adam Toll, and Zachary Allison in 2000. The company was funded entirely by the founders, without outside capital. Musician Glen Phillips was an early adviser and supporter. The company's earliest service tracked the popularity of songs on the original Napster file-sharing service. [2]

Co-founder Adam Toll has said that the company was named for a lyric in the Peter Tosh song "Downpressor Man": "You drink your big champagne and laugh." [3]

BigChampagne has courted some controversy; the company's early focus on Napster and other file sharing networks originally discouraged major music companies from working with them. In 2003, founder Eric Garland testified before the California State Senate that online file sharing was "fundamentally unstoppable." The Recording Industry Association of America publicly criticized his remarks. Beginning in 2002 BigChampagne was involved in a lawsuit with a company called Webspins. Both companies alleged defamation and unfair business practices. The suit was settled out of court in 2003 but the terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Also in 2003, Altnet, a distribution partner of file sharing service Kazaa, sent legal threats to BigChampagne and eight other companies alleging patent infringement. BigChampagne was dropped from the list of targeted companies almost immediately. [4] [5]

The Electronic Frontier Foundation hoped to use the record industry's relationship with BigChampagne to defend file sharing networks like Kazaa as they believed using the networks for market information constituted a non-infringing use of the networks. [6] This defense proved unsuccessful.

Data provided by BigChampagne is used by companies to help make decisions about signing artists and promoting music online and to radio stations; broadcasters use BigChampagne to inform playlist decisions. Led Zeppelin used BigChampagne to choose songs for a 2007 reunion "with good results." [7] BigChampagne also collaborated with Radiohead to assess the impact of the band's pay-what-you-wish album In Rainbows. [8]

In 2006, BigChampagne contributed data and analysis to Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson and was featured in The New York Times best-seller "The Long Tail: Why the Future Business is Selling Less of More". [9]

BigChampagne's metrics and analysis have been cited by media outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal , The Financial Times , USA Today , and National Public Radio (NPR).

In 2011, BigChampagne was acquired by Live Nation Entertainment [10] and is currently part of OnTour with Ticketmaster.

Business Model

BigChampagne generates revenue from dashboard subscription fees and consulting fees. The company is primarily a "B2B", selling information "business-to-business," though some aspects of BigChampagne's data and analysis are available to the general public. The company's business model is similar to the Bloomberg Terminal, Omniture, or a number of Nielsen Company products and services.

Products

BC Dash

BigChampagne's BC Dash is a software platform for integrating, analyzing, and reporting information about radio airplay, online streaming, social activity, sales, and live events.

Partners and data sources include iHeartMedia, Mediabase, YouTube, iTunes, TIDAL, VEVO, Napster, Slacker, StreetPulse, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. [11]

Ultimate Chart

The Ultimate Chart is a ranked list of the most popular music based on sales, radio, streaming, & social media. Available charts include Artists, Songs, Top Tours, Emerging Artists, and genre charts (Country, EDM, and Latin). [12]

Related Research Articles

Kazaa Media Desktop. was a peer-to-peer file sharing application using the FastTrack protocol licensed by Joltid Ltd. and operated as Kazaa by Sharman Networks. Kazaa was subsequently under license as a legal music subscription service by Atrinsic, Inc., which lasted until August 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Napster</span> On-line peer-to-peer file sharing software

Napster was a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing application primarily associated with digital audio file distribution. Founded by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, the platform originally launched on June 1, 1999. Audio shared on the service was typically encoded in the MP3 format. As the software became popular, the company encountered legal difficulties over copyright infringement. Napster ceased operations in 2001 after losing multiple lawsuits and filed for bankruptcy in June 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streaming media</span> Multimedia delivery method

Streaming media is multimedia for playback using an offline or online media player. Technically, the stream is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner by a client, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. Streaming refers to the delivery method of content rather than the content itself.

FastTrack is a peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol that was used by the Kazaa, Grokster, iMesh and Morpheus file sharing programs. FastTrack was the most popular file sharing network in 2003, and used mainly for the exchange of music mp3 files. The network had approximately 2.4 million concurrent users in 2003. It is estimated that the total number of users was greater than that of Napster at its peak.

Uploading refers to transmitting data from one computer system to another through means of a network. Common methods of uploading include: uploading via web browsers, FTP clients], and terminals (SCP/SFTP). Uploading can be used in the context of clients that send files to a central server. While uploading can also be defined in the context of sending files between distributed clients, such as with a peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing protocol like BitTorrent, the term file sharing is more often used in this case. Moving files within a computer system, as opposed to over a network, is called file copying.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Frankel</span> Computer programmer known for Winamp and Gnutella

Justin Frankel is an American computer programmer best known for his work on the Winamp media player application and for inventing the Gnutella peer-to-peer network. Frankel is also the founder of Cockos Incorporated, which creates music production and development software such as the REAPER digital audio workstation, the NINJAM collaborative music tool and the Jesusonic expandable effects processor.

Grokster Ltd. was a privately owned software company based in Nevis, West Indies that created the Grokster peer-to-peer file-sharing client in 2001 that used the FastTrack protocol. Grokster Ltd. was rendered extinct in late 2005 by the United States Supreme Court's decision in MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. The court ruled against Grokster's peer-to-peer file sharing program for computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, effectively forcing the company to cease operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital music store</span> Online retailer of audio files

A digital music store is a business that sells digital audio files of music recordings over the Internet. Customers gain ownership of a license to use the files, in contrast to a music streaming service, where they listen to recordings without gaining ownership. Customers pay either for each recording or on a subscription basis. Online music stores generally also offer partial streaming previews of songs, with some songs even available for full length listening. They typically show a picture of the album art or of the performer or band for each song. Some online music stores also sell recorded speech files, such as podcasts, and video files of movies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Napster (pay service)</span> Napsters music subscription service between 2003–2011; aka Napster 2.0

Napster, commonly known as “Napster 2.0”, was a music streaming service and digital music store, launched by Roxio in 2003 under the purchased name and trademarks of former free peer-to-peer file sharing software Napster in the aftermath of the latter's 2002 bankruptcy and subsequent shut down after a series of legal actions taken by the RIAA. Roxio purchased Napster and a music streaming service called PressPlay in 2003, to create a new legal online music service that lets users access music through a subscription or on a fee-per-song basis. Napster was later acquired by Best Buy. The service was acquired by rival Rhapsody in 2011.

Napster is a music streaming service based in Seattle, Washington, United States. Until 2016, the service was known domestically as Rhapsody before rebranding as Napster, the same name brand that was used by Roxio's Napster.

Phil Morle, is a Partner at Main Sequence Ventures, an Australian-based venture capital firm attached to the CSIRO. Prior to this, he was the co-founder and CEO of Pollenizer, an Australia-based company that builds early stage internet companies using lean startup techniques. Prior to co-founding Pollenizer, Phil held a number of positions in the internet sector working with startups and large companies. His most renowned role was as CTO of Kazaa, a popular peer-to-peer file sharing service that was shut down in the face of legal action from record companies. Morle began his career in theater and was a founder and artistic director of Kaos Theatre in Perth for ten years.

This is a timeline of events in the history of networked file sharing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peer-to-peer file sharing</span> Data distribution using P2P networking technology

Peer-to-peer file sharing is the distribution and sharing of digital media using peer-to-peer (P2P) networking technology. P2P file sharing allows users to access media files such as books, music, movies, and games using a P2P software program that searches for other connected computers on a P2P network to locate the desired content. The nodes (peers) of such networks are end-user computers and distribution servers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Music Publishers' Association</span>

The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) is a trade association for the American music publishing industry. Founded in 1917, NMPA represents American music publishers and their songwriting partners. The NMPA’s mandate is to protect and advance the interests of music publishers and songwriters in matters relating to the domestic and global protection of music copyrights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Disappear</span> 2000 Metallica song

"I Disappear" is a single by Metallica from the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack, which released on May 9, 2000. The music and lyrics were written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, and they were joined by Bob Rock to produce the song. The song's leak on the file-sharing service Napster prompted the band to sue the service. The soundtrack single was released on June 2, 2000.

File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia, documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission and dispersion include removable media, centralized servers on computer networks, Internet-based hyperlinked documents, and the use of distributed peer-to-peer networking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recording Industry Association of America</span> Trade organization representing the recording industry in the U.S.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legally sold recorded music in the United States". RIAA is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

In the first decade of the 21st century, the rise of digital media on the internet and computers as a central and primary means to record, distribute, store, and play music caused widespread economic changes in the music industry. The rise of digital media with high-speed internet access fundamentally changed the relationships between artists, record companies, promoters, retail music stores, the technology industry, and consumers. The rise of digital music consumption options contributed to several fundamental changes in consumption. One significant change in the music industry was the remarkable decline of conventional album sales on CD and vinyl. With the à la carte sales models increasing in popularity, consumers no longer downloaded entire albums but rather chose single songs.

Streamwaves was an online music service founded by Jeff Tribble and Daniel Hexter in Dallas, Texas. Founded during file sharing service Napster's legal troubles, Streamwaves was the first company to license major label masters for a subscription service, and the first company to launch a subscription service with major label content in 2002. In 2005 Streamwaves became part of the Rhapsody music service owned by RealNetworks.

Metallica, et al. v. Napster, Inc. was a 2000 U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California case that focused on copyright infringement, racketeering, and unlawful use of digital audio interface devices. Metallica vs. Napster, Inc. was the first case that involved an artist suing a peer-to-peer file sharing ("P2P") software company.

References

  1. Smith, Ethan (2011-12-15). "Live Nation Acquires BigChampagne". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  2. "BigChampagne is Watching You". Wired. October 2003.
  3. "BigChampagne is Watching You". Wired. October 2003.
  4. "BigChampagne is Watching You". Wired. October 2003.
  5. "Latest Topics".
  6. "BigChampagne is Watching You". Wired. October 2003.
  7. "Mc Vay Media Rocks: Taking Music Risks". 2009-10-16.
  8. Garland, Eric (16 November 2009). "The 'In Rainbows' Experiment: Did It Work?". NPR.
  9. Anderson, Chris (2008-07-08). The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More . Hachette Books. p.  33. ISBN   9781401309664. big champagne.
  10. Smith, Ethan (2011-12-15). "Live Nation Acquires BigChampagne". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  11. "BigChampagne | Home". Archived from the original on 2016-04-22. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  12. "BigChampagne | Charts". Archived from the original on 2016-07-11. Retrieved 2016-06-28.

Further reading