Music Boulevard Explained

Music Boulevard
Foundation:1995
Defunct:1999
Fate:Acquired by CDNow
March 17, 1999
Location Country:United States
Services:Online Retail Music Store

Music Boulevard, or musicblvd.com, was a retail music information and sales website founded in 1995 by Telebase Systems.[1] In 1997 the Music Boulevard website, operated by N2K, became among the first websites to offer piracy-protected music singles for direct download.[2] The website used Liquid Audio's single-delivery system.[3] Originally created as a subsidiary of Telebase Systems by its CEO Jim Coane,[4] N2K's MusicBlvd went public in October 1997.[5] The website offered more than 300,000 music titles and generated more than 80 million views in its first quarter.[6]

In 1998 Music Boulevard was described by The Boston Globe as one of the "big three" online music sellers alongside CDNow and Amazon.com, and it was lauded for its extras including artist biographies, reviews, and feature stories from national music publications.[7] By 1999, the company was ranked 9th among all electronic commerce sites, with around 2.7 million visitors in the month of December.[8] MusicBlvd was also partnered with CBS Cable and hotlinked to sponsors, including Billboard magazine.

On March 17, 1999 MusicBlvd was acquired by CDNow, at which time its website became defunct and customers were redirected to the CDNow website.[9] [10] According to the book The Cdnow Story: Rags to Riches on the Internet, Music Boulevard was CDNow's "number one competitor."[11]

CDnow was acquired by Amazon.com in 2002.[12]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Now Open! Music Boulevard at MusicBlvd.com . . 1995-08-16 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305015154/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/NOW+OPEN!+MUSIC+BOULEVARD+AT+WWW.MUSICBLVD.COM+THE+INTERNET'S+LARGEST...-a017182281 . 2016-03-05.
  2. Web site: An Online First for a Music Source . . 1997-07-14.
  3. "Entertainment/Weekend/Spotlight: Capitol Song Hits Internet". Rocky Mountain News. 10 September 1997.
  4. News: Making way for new markets . The Ithaca Journal . November 17, 1995 . 9A . David . Judson.
  5. News: 'Rolling Stone' hits the web . New York Times News Service . November 24, 1997 . 2E.
  6. Web site: Row . Heath . Music Boulevard | Fast Company | Business + Innovation . Fast Company . 1998-11-30 . 2013-09-02.
  7. Anderman, Joan. "Wired for sound shopping Web site music retailers offer guidance, discounts, and even some rarities". The Boston Globe. 25 December 1998.
  8. Wieffering, Eric. "Business: K-tel posts loss, but still avoids Nasdaq delisting; Retailer loses $6 million as 2nd-quarter sales drop 9.5 percent.." Star Tribune. 11 February 1999.
  9. Web site: CDnow, N2K strike first note after merger. Wolverton. Troy. May 18, 1999. E-Business. CNET News. 10 December 2013.
  10. News: Music merger seeks harmonious blend of sales, sounds . https://archive.today/20130904222216/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/41660674.html?dids=41660674:41660674&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+12,+1999&author=Bruce+Haring&pub=USA+TODAY&desc=Music+merger+seeks+harmonious+blend+of+sales,+sounds&pqatl=google . dead . September 4, 2013 . Bruce . Haring . USA Today . May 12, 1999 . 8D.
  11. Book: Olim. Jason. Olim. Matthew. Kent. Peter. The Cdnow Story: Rags to Riches on the Internet. 1999. Top Floor Pub. 978-0966103267. 19.
  12. Web site: Amazon, CDNow make it official . Margaret . Kane . CNET . December 4, 2002.

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