1-800-MUSIC-NOW

1-800-MUSIC-NOW

1-800 MUSIC NOW was a short-lived venture by MCI Communications to open a music store operated through automated telephone prompts. It also introduced one of the first ever serious attempts at an e-commerce music store. The service was run out of MCI's Consumer Markets Headquarters offices in Arlington, Virginia (Pentagon City).

The telephone service allowed United States users who dialed the toll-free number 1-800-687-4266 (the last "W" in the brand name was irrelevant to the actual number; in effect, 1-800 MUSIC NO) to enter the name of a performing artist by touch-tone, then select one of that artist's albums (available on CD or cassette) from the catalog and hear clips from that album before buying by credit card. Users could sample and buy music and could shop by artist name, album name, genre, song title, Top 10 lists, etc. Once users made selections on the automated service, they were transferred to a call center where an operator established an account (for first-time buyers), collected payment and shipping information, assisted in ordering, and completed the order. Subsequent ordering could be accomplished through the automated system without human assistance.

The online service was located at "http://www.1800musicnow.mci.com". It was the first to offer free music sampling for most of its catalog -- initially in RealAudio 1.0 and eventually in RealAudio 2.0. The online store shut down in early 1997.

The service began in 1995 (the same year Amazon.com opened, and three years before it started selling music) but was taken down by the end of 1996. The promotion totaled about USD$40 million (at the time, advertisements for the service were quite regularly played on MTV and advertised heavily as part of The Simpsons Homerpalooza episode); meanwhile, its top-selling CD allegedly sold only 400 copies. [cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/surveys/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=596309|title=Tremble, everyone|work=The Economist|date=May 8, 1997] Ultimately, over 1 million pieces of music were sold within the year. One survey noted that many of those who called the number did not sign up to make purchases, some citing shipping fees, but most saying it was because they didn't have credit cards. [cite web|url=http://www.narm.com/publications/sb96/0696/5.htm|title=Soundata Consumer Panel, NARM Sounding Board June 1996|author=James Donio|publisher=National Association of Recording Merchandisers] (this was slightly before debit cards were widely available with checking accounts). Credit cards were required to verify the age of shoppers on the phone since it is otherwise impossible to verify identity on the phone.

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • MUSIC — This article is arranged according to the following outline: introduction written sources of direct and circumstantial evidence the material relics and iconography notated sources oral tradition archives and important collections of jewish music… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Music of Thailand — Life in Thailand Cuisine Culture Dance Instruments Demographics Economy Education Film Holidays Languages Literature …   Wikipedia

  • Music of Vancouver — Music of Canada General topics Portal Genres …   Wikipedia

  • Music for the Masses — Álbum de Depeche Mode Publicación 28 de septiembre de 1987 en Inglaterra 6 de octubre de 1987 en los Estados Unidos Grabación Studio Guilliame Tell, París, y Konk, Londres, durante 1987 Género …   Wikipedia Español

  • Music Box (альбом Мерайи Кери) — Music Box Студийный альбом Мерайа Кери Дата выпуска 31 августа, 1993 …   Википедия

  • Music Box (альбом) — Music Box Студийный альбом Мэрайи Кэри Дата выпуска …   Википедия

  • Music of China — Timeline General topics Traditional Chinese instruments …   Wikipedia

  • Music of Michigan — Music of the United States AK AL AR AS AZ CA CO CT DC DE FL GA GU HI IA ID IL IN KS KY LA MA …   Wikipedia

  • Music Box — Álbum de Mariah Carey Publicación 17 de agosto de 1993 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Music of Antigua and Barbuda — Antigua and Barbuda is a Caribbean nation in the Lesser Antilles island chain. The country is a second home for many of the pan Caribbean genres of popular music, and has produced stars in calypso, soca, steeldrum, zouk and reggae. Of these,… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”