Riffage.com nabs concert venue

From...

June 1, 2000
Web posted at: 10:51 a.m. EDT (1451 GMT)

by Hane C. Lee

(IDG) -- Although some Net music companies spend millions to sponsor a single concert tour, one download site has decided to make a more permanent impression.

For a reported seven-figure sum, Riffage.com has agreed to acquire the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco's oldest nightclub, in an effort to expand the site's Riffage Live Webcast offerings. The company, which specializes in distributing MP3 tracks by unsigned artists, will equip the music hall with Web cameras and new lighting as it beefs up its own digital-production capabilities.

The move follows a deal, announced in March, to produce a series of half-hour concert broadcasts from the Great American Music Hall in conjunction with Lorne Michaels' Burly Bear Network, a cable TV network aimed at the college set that serves about 5 million students across the country. Ken Wirt, CEO and founder of Riffage, says negotiations to buy the club preceded that deal.

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"We were studying the process by which music gets popular, and realized the importance of live music," says Wirt. "[The Great American Music Hall] is the BMW of music halls. It's not that big, it looks great, the acoustics are great, and the audience has a great time. That makes the bands give a great performance. We thought if we could capture just 10 percent of the quality of that interaction, [this move] would be successful."

While the deal would give Riffage marketing ammunition in terms of signage and branding at shows, it also could draw a much bigger audience to the site with Webcasts of more-popular musical artists. The Great American Music Hall, which has staged performances by such legendary acts as Van Morrison and Duke Ellington, continues to host a broad range of artists, from indie-rock heroes Pavement to funk saxophonist Maceo Parker.

Booking and management of the music hall would continue to be carried out by its current staff, but Wirt says the deal would give unsigned bands on Riffage a chance to perform with better-known acts.

"Say the headline act is A. [We could say,] 'Here's two or three bands we think would go well with that,' " says Wirt. Ultimately, though, the club's bookers would make the decision. "[Booking Riffage acts] won't be a requirement."

A number of online ventures are leveraging their access to live performances in order to build up Web content. One of the first to do so is HOB.com, the Internet presence of House of Blues Entertainment. The site Webcasts concerts on a daily basis, thanks to its relationship with 27 clubs and amphitheaters across the country. And as long as the artists agree to have their shows filmed, HOB is free to repurpose that content. The company has already forged deals to distribute DVDs of filmed performances and to license content to VH1 and MTV.

Unlike HOB, Riffage doesn't have a wide-reaching plan to acquire additional venues. "Maybe there's an advantage to buying [more venues], but our plan is: Let's do this one and get it right first," says Wirt.

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