Galaxie to tackle commercial market with IP-based OMT back-end technology

An evolution of its partnership with Canadian Broadcasting Corp. digital music service Galaxie will be one of the first tests for OMT Inc. as it begins implementing the technology assets it purchased from now defunct musicmusicmusic Inc. For less than $500,000, Winnipeg-based OMT has purchased a catalog of 365,000 digital audio tracks and the back-end technology to serve them up, and will now put those assets to work as Galaxie expands beyond the residential market to tackle the commercial sector. Galaxie is hoping the OMT offering, which promises high customization for low price delivery, will help it compete against such heavyweight commercial music providers as U.S.-based DMX and Muzak - currently the biggest names in town to provide music and advertising in retail and other commercial locations. Galaxie GM Alain Pineau tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that the opportunity to move into the commercial market - in locations such as doctors offices, retail outlets and restaurants, for instance - came to the company’s doorstep as satellite TV provider Bell ExpressVu LP and cable companies began knocking on Galaxie’s door looking for permission to sell into those environments. Unlike satellite distribution of music, however, the Internet protocol technology used by Galaxie offers significant opportunities to customize the product to the customer. Specific genre playlists and, more importantly, targeted advertising can all be quickly and cheaply delivered from the company’s servers. "Through the technology that OMT’s providing us," Pineau says, "we can customize it to death." Some changes have had to be made to the product. Pineau says that music delivered to the home, via Bell ExpressVu or Rogers Cable Inc.’s digital cable service for example, is only minimally altered from the original CD version, while tunes delivered to a commercial establishment will be tweaked to optimize them for audibility over throngs of shoppers and other noise. Galaxie will likely also be offering an advertising-based and a subscription-based service publicly available using the Internet, though rights issues could delay the hoped-for first quarter launch of those services. Pineau says rights issues are unlikely to play a big role in the commercial initiative since the rightsholders have already demonstrated an acceptance of Galaxie’s promise of secure delivery. For its part, OMT CEO Scott Farr tells CNM that offering customized, IP-delivered services for customers such as Galaxie is a natural progression from the work the company has already been doing providing broadcast technology in the U.S., Canada, and even Asia. Unlike musicmusicmusic, the assets of which it will now incorporate into its service, OMT doesn’t plan to brand its service with its own name. The music will be delivered from OMT’s Winnipeg facilities, which Farr says is one of the best cities in North America to locate such businesses sitting as it does on a rich intersection of broadband pipes. Besides the music catalog and SQL content management database acquired when the company picked up the assets of musicmusicmusic, OMT also now owns several thousand DVD movie and video game trailers, which could be used in a retail CD, DVD previewing service. In the new Galaxie/OMT partnership, Galaxie will be responsible for marketing and content programming while OMT will provide the technology and infrastructure. Farr says customers will need some on-premise equipment - a playout device or "CD jukebox" - provided by OMT, as well as a high-speed Internet connection. ADSL, he notes, is more than fast enough to handle the service. OMT and CBC have worked together dating back to 1997 when OMT provided the technology for Galaxie’s Continuous Music Network.

Galaxie to tackle commercial market with IP-based OMT back-end technology

News | 12/19/2003 5:00 am EST

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