International Entertainment News: Music Company 'NovaTunes' Launches Globally This Month

Music Company 'NovaTunes' Launches Globally This Month

Company brings 'Radiohead model' to a new level

VENICE, Calif., Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Not every band can "pull a Radiohead," but thanks to NovaTunes, a new internet music company, it's at least becoming easier. NovaTunes launches at the end of November. The Venice, California, based company has built the platform to distribute and sell music to a global audience of music fans in high quality digital album format. "But we take the 'Radiohead model' to a totally new level," says founder & President Hans Veldhuizen. "In such a way that up-and-coming artists can also enjoy the benefits of the changes in music distribution."

Many artists are experimenting with selling music directly to their fans. Veldhuizen: "World famous bands can pull that off, but it won't work for up-and-coming artists who don't have a big fan base yet. That's where NovaTunes comes in. We've developed a model in which we leverage the fan bases of all artists on NovaTunes - the famous ones and the ones who are at the start of their career. By doing that, we add something very valuable to the model: an instant audience of music fans around the world, who are interested in quality music from great artists".

NovaTunes embraces a 'Hear, Like, Buy' approach: users can hear each album in full and if they like it, they can buy and download it directly. Music fans can also join 'artist networks' where musicians and their audience meet. They can discuss music, write reviews and recommend other NovaTunes artists they like. This type of 'social network' is a great way to discover new music and new artists.

Music icon Graham Nash, who has joined the Board of Advisors of the company, is a firm supporter of the NovaTunes model: "The music industry is in dire straits and solutions are coming from companies like NovaTunes. The people at NovaTunes understand the internet and take advantage of it by creating a space for musicians to connect to their fans and to release new music instantly to them, wherever in the world they are. It's a fabulous business model and that's why I wanted to join in and help them and push them as far as they can go, because this is the future".

The music on NovaTunes is sold in a new digital album format called the 'DP', which stands for Download Pack. Each DP comes with high quality DRM-free music tracks playable on any device. The package also contains printable artwork, with a bio, lyrics, credits and liner notes and an iPod-ready video.

NovaTunes cuts out the middleman. Fans can purchase DPs directly from the artist pages on NovaTunes. Pricing is determined by the artist, but will likely vary between 5 and 9 dollars, with the average DP selling for around $7. Additionally NovaTunes gives regular customers an 'All Access' status, where they can download albums to listen to on their iPods and decide to pay later. NovaTunes pays 70% of music revenue to the artist at the moment of purchase, thanks to its innovative payment solution and transparent accounting system.

The company currently represents over 60 artists in the singer-songwriter and rock-genres, including heritage as well as developing acts. All NovaTunes artists have complete creative control over their music, imaging and release date. "The artists on NovaTunes have been carefully selected," states John Wooler, Senior Director of A&R. "We don't take on every artist. We only want to work with artists we strongly believe in."

Wooler: "We're very excited about the artists we work with. Opportunities are rampant for established artists such as Jackson Browne, Leon Russell, Graham Nash, Julia Fordham and developing artists like Joe Purdy, Meiko, Bow Thayer and Devon Allman's HoneyTribe." The NovaTunes roster spans all over the world from the US to the UK, from Australia to Brazil, appealing to music fans of all countries and age groups, catering specifically to adult music lovers (25-65).

NovaTunes expects to release at least two new DPs each week. The company continues to look for great music from all over the world.

"NovaTunes is built on respect for the artist on the one hand and respect for the music fan on the other," says founder Hans Veldhuizen. "The company is also built on trust. We strongly believe that there are many fans out there who are willing to support the artists they like and pay for music, provided that it's priced reasonably, easy to download and comes without any annoying restrictions."

NovaTunes launches in the second half of November, but you can learn more and

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: NovaTunes

CONTACT: PR - Kymm Britton of 60 Cycle Media, +1-310-656-5900,
britton@60cyclemedia.com, for NovaTunes

Web site:

http://www.novatunes.com/

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