SCHUON, BEBEL DUET AT
TOP OF PRESSPLAY

Perhaps indicating that the future of their digital-distribution network will be scored in more than two parts, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group announced Monday (6/11) that "pressplay" is now the official name of their on-demand music subscription service. At the same time, the companies, as expected, announced the appointment of former Farmclub.com President and COO Andy "Gump" Schuon to the post of pressplay President and CEO, and former Universal eLabs EVP Business Development/Strategic Planning Michael "Tower of" Bebel as the joint venture’s Chief Operating Officer.

The move, coming hot on the heels of Vivendi Universal’s acquisition of MP3.com, puts a well-known music-industry face on the Sony-Universal subscription effort. The new pressplay moniker also puts an end to Duet, the name by which the 50-50 JV had come to be known. However, according to an official release, pressplay may now also be referred to as The Company Formerly Known By The Working Title of Duet, or by the handy acronym TCFKBTWTOD.

As head of the company, Schuon will oversee all aspects of pressplay’s operations, including the online subscription service’s launch, management of its technical operations and the service’s branding and development. Bebel will oversee business affairs, finance and day-to-day operations, while guiding the company’s implementation of technology. pressplay (it pains us to start a sentence with a lower-case character, but we’ll go along with the program) will operate out of New York and Los Angeles.

"It is a true pleasure to announce these two key players in the pressplay team," commented Sony Music Chairman/CEO Thomas D. Mottola.

"Andy and Mike are both extremely talented executives, and we are pleased that they will be steering pressplay," said UMG Chairman/CEO Doug Morris, at exactly the same time. It should also be noted that while Mr. Mottola’s comment appears first in this story, Mr. Morris is allowed to have the last word, thus evening things out.

"pressplay will introduce a new way for people to interact with the music they love," said Schuon. "I am excited to be at the helm of a company on the leading edge of music. What’s more, I am delighted that our mighty corporate overlords have seen fit to give us two whole months to make this thing work."

"I'm delighted to be working with Andy to create pressplay," said Bebel. "What’s more, I’m thrilled that he has given me all of two months to make this thing work."

Set to launch in late summer, pressplay has already signed a marketing agreement with Yahoo. The service intends to offer both downloadable and streaming music, as well as shareable personalized playlists, all within a secure-file delivery system that will at first "tether" music files to the user’s PC. The company hopes to introduce "portability options" (i.e., CD burning and downloads to portable devices) sometime after the service’s initial launch.