Even though from the outside the music industry seems like a wounded giant, it is proving to be fertile ground for entrepreneurs willing to think about new and creative ways of getting music from artists to listeners.
The latest of these new ideas just got venture capital funding, as reported by Red Herring.
“Mercora, of Santa Clara, California received million in Series A funding Monday from Silicon Valley’s Norwest Venture Partners, to finance its Internet radio network. Mercora IM (Individual Modulation) Radio, which uses streaming audio, lets users listen to music from other users’ computers.
“Just like any other peer-to-peer file-swapping service, Mercora allows users to search music by artist or song title. But unlike Kazaa or Morpheus, which have been hobbled by the wrath of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and several legal challenges, Mercora doesn’t allow users to download songs onto their computers.
“‘It is a network of radio stations that is basically converting your PC into a webcasting station in compliance with copyright laws,’ said Srivats Sampath, co-founder and CEO. With Mercora, every user becomes a broadcaster and their playlist becomes a channel, he said.”
Not only is Mercora rethinking music distribution, but they are even rethinking broadcast radio. This may not be the answer for this industry, but it is definitely the kind of innovation that may help reinvent how music gets from performers to their fans.
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