Online music retailer N2K Inc. and StarMedia Network Inc., an
online network in Latin America, signed a two-year agreement to create an
online music retailing area for residents of Latin America.
Under the terms of the agreement, N2K and StarMedia Network will develop
Spanish- and Portuguese-language versions of N2K’s 200,000-title online
superstore Music Boulevard, allowing
pan-regional users to purchase music online directly through two co-branded
music areas on the StarMedia Network–“Plaza Musical” (Spanish) and “Praca
Musical” (Portuguese). Financial details were not disclosed.
Set to launch later this quarter, the customized versions of Music
Boulevard will allow Latin America’s seven million Internet users to read
current music news and album reviews, review the latest music charts, and
access sound samples through StarMedia Network.
As part of the relationship, StarMedia Network will develop special areas
within “Plaza Musical” and “Praca Musical” to feature titles tailored to the
musical tastes of the Latin American market.
The StarMedia Network offers communications, retail services, information and
entertainment programming to a broad-based online audience in Spanish and
Portuguese.
“Latin Americans represent a disproportionate share of worldwide online
transaction revenues and also have an average per transaction rate two to
three times that of online buyers from anywhere else in the world,” said
Fernando Espuelas, chairman and chief executive officer of StarMedia Network.
“The integration of N2K’s Music Boulevard into the StarMedia Network will
undoubtedly please our visitors, who for the first time, will be able to
purchase music in a secure online environment. This relationship is just one
of the many retail opportunities we plan to offer our users in the coming
year.”
According to a recent study released by Nazca S&S, the Latin American network
of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, Pan-regional Internet usage has increased 788%
since 1995. The study predicts 34 million Latin Americans will have Web access
by the year 2000, a 4250% increase from 1995.
N2K is expanding globally with N2K Japan, which has strategic alliances with
AOL Japan, NTT’s OCN Network, WebTV Japan, and radio station J-Wave. The
company has also formed relationships with MTV International, which links MTV
Internet sites in Europe, Japan, Asia, and Brazil to Music Boulevard, and with
Grolier Interactive of France for a French-language version of Music
Boulevard.
