Listen and judge: Fluid Audio Networks brings American Idol to Internet.Just when you thought you had to wait for the next season of American Idol American Idol is an annual American televised singing competition, which began its first season on June 11, 2002. Part of the Idol franchise, it originated from the British reality program Pop Idol. to land that recording contract, Justin Beckett has created an online version of the wildly popular show that allows aspiring musicians to post their music on the Web to be voted on by site visitors. Launched in October, American Idol Underground (www.idolunderground.com) allows artists to upload their song for $50. Each song is guaranteed a minimum of 200 rotations on one of AIU's genre-specific Internet radio Listening to audio broadcasts via the Internet. There are more than 4,000 broadcasts available on the Internet that can be streamed and played by a software media player in the computer or in a stand-alone Internet radio with the software built in. stations. In exchange for prizes, music fans listen and rate songs, whose airplay air·play n. The broadcasting of an audio or audiovisual recording on the air over radio or television. airplay Noun the broadcast performances of a record on radio increases as ratings go up. The best songs from each genre are awarded prizes that can include a demo recording package for the artist. Beckett began toying with the idea of bringing American Idol to the Web in 2002, the same year Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24 1982) is an American pop rock singer. Clarkson made her debut under RCA Records after she won the highly publicized first season of the television series American Idol in 2002. walked off the stage with a recording contract after TV viewers voted her the winner. "Each year, 100,000 people line up to audition for the TV show," says Beckett. "We offer an anonymous way for people to not necessarily become an Idol contestant, but to realize their dreams by exposing millions of people to their music." But first, Beckett had to convince American Idol producers that he was the man for the job. It took about a year, and early meetings didn't turn out as planned, he says. "I'd been playing around with a music application that leveraged the Internet and its broad distribution capabilities to optimize music." Beckett, a former dot-com executive, founded and ran the online gaming See gaming. company SkillJam Technologies before selling it earlier this year. He then founded Fluid Audio Networks with 30 employees and a $500,000 investment gleaned from the sale of his previous company. He used the capital to develop the firm's core technology application. Beckett, a Duke University graduate whose career involved managing a private equity fund, served as managing director of the New Africa Opportunities Fund, which was mired mire n. 1. An area of wet, soggy, muddy ground; a bog. 2. Deep slimy soil or mud. 3. A disadvantageous or difficult condition or situation: the mire of poverty. v. in controversy before he resigned in 2000. Beckett spends much of his time these days managing his budding budding, type of grafting in which a plant bud is inserted under the bark of the stock (usually not more than a year old). It is best done when the bark will peel easily and the buds are mature, as in spring, late summer, or early autumn. company and its online component, supervising business and product development, optimizing distribution, and troubleshooting technical glitches. Running a small minority-owned firm in an industry where behemoths rule hasn't been easy for Beckett. He says he's often questioned about his affiliation with the American Idol brand. "We've had prospective partners question our right to use the name," says Beckett, who has had to ask FremantleMedia for "verification" of the relationship on more than one occasion. Jason Turner Jason Turner refers to:
In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. this to be the next great thing he does." |
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