Wisconsin Company Aims to Become World's Largest Sustainable Online Music CD Store

Wisconsin Company Aims to Become World's Largest Sustainable Online Music CD Store

Wanted: 15 Billion Music CDs

Digital Music Marketplace Feeds Love for Music and the Environment

MADISON, Wis., Aug. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Murfie (murfie.com), an online digital music marketplace that offers music enthusiasts an economical and ecologically friendly means of buying, selling, trading and storing individual CDs or entire music collections that includes a state-of-the-art digital ripping and downloading service, is launching an aggressive nationwide expansion effort toward becoming the world's largest and most ecological new and used CD store.

Murfie, which has conducted regional test marketing of its patent-pending business model since February, cited a "better-than-expected response" to its pledge of selling both new value-priced music CDs, while freeing the country of the billions of used music CDs lying idle in peoples' closets, basements and garages, according to company co-founders Matthew Younkle and Preston Austin.

"Our test marketing initiative is validation that the music-buying public is eager to embrace the creativity of the Murfie business model, which focuses on consumers' rights to buy, sell, trade or give away music that is ripped from their new and used CDs - CDs that are stored in Murfie's secure, climate-controlled central warehouse," said Younkle, who also serves currently as the company's CDO (Chief Disc Officer).

"Murfie's unique feature aspect of CD ripping and downloading makes it possible for people to use their music while eliminating the clutter of plastic discs and jewel cases in their own homes," Younkle said. "While CDs are great because they contain high quality music that a person truly owns, they're less convenient than digital music stored on an mp3 player or computer. With Murfie, our members manage their CD collections remotely, getting the music they want via a secure digital download and selling, trading or giving away valuable CDs they no longer listen to or want."

The cornerstone of Murfie's business model is made up of two well-established rights for the sale and distribution of copyrighted materials - those being that consumers are allowed to legally convert their music digitally (Murfie members receive files ripped from their actual CDs), plus the basic right to sell CDs that they have purchased. All other major digital music purveyors limit their sales to what amounts to a rental or limited licensing agreement at best, meaning that people can't sell what they don't own. Murfie members, on the other hand, retain unrestricted ownership and access to their music until such time they decide to part with it. In addition, the custodial aspect of Murfie's secure, climate-controlled central warehouse is further evidence in support of the true ownership concept.

Murfie lists members' albums that are available for sale or trade at murfie.com, where members and buyers can access music through a secure download. When downloading music, people can choose from a number of digital compression formats such as mp3, AAC, FLAC and Apple Lossless. Murfie automatically recycles CD cases after a guarantee period, but permanently stores CDs and liner notes in its warehouse unless directed otherwise by the CD owner. Members leave the overwhelming majority of their discs for safe keeping with Murfie, providing consumers a purely digital experience while preserving the benefits of music ownership.

To view an infographic of the online Murfie digital music marketplace, please go to: http://www.murfie.com/how_does_murfie_work

"A key characteristic of Murfie is our offer of a sustainable solution to the way people trade music they no longer listen to for the music they love," Younkle said. "Murfie's process helps ensure that unwanted plastic - an estimated 1.2 million tons in jewel cases from music on CDs in the U.S. alone - remains a valuable resource for reuse in the design and manufacture of new products rather than being buried in landfills. While it's rare to be able to recycle CD cases in small volumes, a lot can be done to reuse this valuable resource when aggregated in the volumes we collect at Murfie."

The following is a snapshot of Murfie's pricing model:

-- Getting started: Sending CDs to Murfie - Shipping is free to members who
use a Murfie-supplied mail-in kit.
-- Murfie member CDs - These are the CDs sent to Murfie by its members.
Members have the choice of which CDs in their Murfie collection to list
for sale. Members also set the prices of their discs they list for sale.
Typically, used discs on Murfie cost around $3. Murfie receives a 30
percent commission on sales, while the remainder goes to the Member
seller.
-- New CDs - These are new CDs sold by Murfie. Prices for new CDs are
generally $2 to $3 less than those charged by other major online
sellers, plus Murfie provides the advantages of ownership with the
convenience of digital downloads.
-- CD rip and download service - Murfie charges $1 to professionally rip
and make available for download any CD in a Murfie member's collection,
which is defined as any CDs the member sends into Murfie, purchases or
receives in trade. Members choose the file format for the rip.
-- Murfie Gold membership - For an annual fee of $24, Murfie Gold members
receive unlimited access to Murfie's CD rip and download service.
-- Storage - The first year of CD storage through Murfie is free. Storage
after the first year remains free for members who complete at least 10
transactions (i.e. sales, purchases or trades) in the prior year. For
members with fewer than 10 transactions in the prior year, a fee of $12
is charged to store up to 1,000 CDs.

Murfie is the latest venture from Younkle, the Wisconsin entrepreneur who founded Laminar Technologies in 2002 and invented its patented TurboTap® product. The TurboTap was built to pour a perfect glass of draft beer in about two seconds and since its inception has been installed at bars, restaurants, and dozens of major sports venues across the U.S.

About Murfie:

Murfie is wholly owned by privately held Byte Recycle, LLC, which develops software, hardware, and robotics systems that allow the company to offer its customers a platform for buying, selling, and trading their media collections in physical and digital formats. In 2010, the company received the Wisconsin Department of Commerce's Qualified New Business Venture certification which allows investors in the new company to take advantage of a 25 percent tax credit.

About Matthew Younkle:

Matthew Younkle is an inventor with an eye for business. His product development work spans a wide range of industries: from space research to networking software to draft beer. Mr. Younkle's successes have resulted in the first food to ever be grown in space and TurboTap®, the world's fastest beer tap retrofit. His projects have been featured in USA Today, Popular Science, The Wall Street Journal, TIME Magazine, CNN, FOX News, CNBC, Chicago Sun Times and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Mr. Younkle is a connoisseur of and oft-requested speaker on topics of innovation, intellectual property, patents and the commercialization of new products. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in computer science and electrical engineering. He has been awarded 13 U.S. and international patents.

About Preston Austin:

Preston Austin is the co-founder and head of technology at Murfie. Preston has over 15 years of high-level experience leading teams in the creation of innovative online technologies and content systems. His resume spans educational systems for large universities, multimedia publishing and video collaboration, multi-user 3D immersive systems, and dozens of highly successful games and activities for websites.

Contact: Grant Deady, Office, 312-396-9734, Cell, 312-375-1170, grant.deady@zenogroup.com

SOURCE Murfie

Murfie

Web Site: http://www.murfie.com

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