www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/307211
By John Townley February 18, 2000 LAUNCH Media, Inc. has announced the consumer release of its streaming music service LAUNCHcast. LAUNCHcast has been available in beta preview since November and has amassed over 100,000 stations, created by LAUNCH.com members, while improvements have been made to LAUNCHcast to enrich its functionality and offerings for users. LAUNCH.com members have the ability to become virtual radio "DJs" when they create a LAUNCHcast station tailored to their musical tastes. By rating songs, albums, artists and sampling other community members' stations, users teach LAUNCHcast to play the types of music they want. Utilizing Windows Media technology, LAUNCHcast offers audio streams of a diverse mix of music. Currently, there are over 60,000 songs available on LAUNCHcast in over 70 music genres, with more to be added continuously as LAUNCHcast develops. LAUNCHcast DJs can discover new music through other users with similar tastes by "subscribing" to their stations. Additionally, users can have their LAUNCHcast station influenced by celebrities who have created stations, including: Mandy Moore, Moby, D'Angelo, Missy Elliot, Reel Big Fish, with more to be added in upcoming weeks. Several new features have been added to LAUNCHcast to enhance the customized options offered to users. LAUNCHcast features include a new "RATE MUSIC" section, where DJs can browse music by genre and popularity or searching for a particular artist. On this page, members can find out what other DJs are listening to and what songs are favorites within the community. On the LAUNCHcast player, users may see if other DJs are online and there is an instant messaging system enabling them to connect with each other. As an added bonus they may also "SHARE" their station via email with friends outside of the LAUNCH.com community to get them to join and sample their station. LAUNCH.com content, such as artist biographies, music news and editorial stories have been integrated into LAUNCHcast. Additionally, if LAUNCHcast users want to purchase the music they are listening to, they can access their "BUY" button and receive it through LAUNCH's retail music partner, CheckOut.com. "We are very proud of LAUNCHcast's successful beta period, " said Dave Goldberg, chief executive officer of LAUNCH. "With already over 100,000 stations created, we will continue to expand on its innovative components and continue giving users an outstanding online music experience." |
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