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March 30, 2000

Ten Fast Facts

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PlayNetwork

WHO:
A privately held company that provides background music for businesses. Founded in 1994 by Kevin Robell.

WHAT:
Provides complete sound systems plus long-running, customized recordings from an extensive digital library.

WHERE:
Redmond

Fast Fact #1: PlayNetwork's goal is to "have every piece of music ever recorded in our library some day."

Comment: So says Robin Sibucao, chief operating officer. Sibucao says PlayNetwork currently has obtained licenses to use "millions" of songs and has digitized more than 100,000 of those, with more being added to its digital library every day. The company's employees are a great source of titles and artists, but "we're constantly asking friends to ask other friends. They may come up with something we haven't heard of."

Fast Fact #2: Many PlayNetwork employees are or were musicians and recently performed in a company jam session.

Comment: Robell, now chief information officer, once played bass guitar in the house band for a club in Hawaii owned by actor Tom Sellek and Pat Bowlen, owner of the Denver Broncos. He later oversaw all aspects of music for the club. When he had trouble finding a suitable collection of recorded background music, he created his own tapes, which planted the seed for PlayNetwork.

Fast Fact #3: PlayNetwork believes music helps brand a business.

Comment: If business owners take pot luck on their tunes, they not only miss a powerful opportunity to reinforce their image, but they run the risk of turning off customers. Without a carefully prepared musical menu, warns Sibucao, "maybe the employees in the back will throw on Puff Daddy."

Fast Fact #4: PlayNetwork invented its own CD player.

Comment: It's essentially a small computer, says Sibucao. Using proprietary technology, it can play a 16-hour disc that automatically changes from one set of music to another according to an internal clock. Clients must purchase a PlayNetwork CD player to use the company's services. They cost $495-$595.

Fast Fact #5: PlayNetwork prepares detailed profiles of its clients.

Comment: "We'll spend a lot of time with them upfront finding out what they want," says Sibucao. And what they want often changes according to the hour of the day. PlayNetwork creates several distinct sets of songs for each CD and programs its CD players so the genres automatically shift with the rhythm of the business. In a coffee shop, that might mean light instrumental during the morning, uptempo tunes at lunch and contemporary selections in the evening when college students drift in. Announcements such as drink specials can also be included.

Fast Fact #6: Clients receive four CDs at a time.

Comment: New ones are created and sent at regular intervals. Unlike most of its competitors, PlayNetwork doesn't require clients to sign contracts, says Sibucao, and it charges a much more modest fee -- $35 per month or less.

Fast Fact #7: PlayNetwork's digital library keeps costs down.

Comment: The company's programmers don't have to grab CDs from shelves. They retrieve them from computer files, clicking and dragging songs into the set they are creating and imprinting them on the client's CD. The programmers often rely on their own musical knowledge to make selections, but the computer helps by suggesting related songs or artists they might not have heard before. The time savings generated by the digital library is dramatic, says Sibucao.

Fast Fact #8: Watch out, Muzak.

Comment: PlayNetwork prospered on the local scene, but attracted little national notice until Starbuck's began using its services in 1998. "Quite frankly, that got my attention," says Sibucao. PlayNetwork subsequently raised $13 million in venture capital, quadrupled its workforce to 65 and has set its sights on becoming "the leader in the business music services industry," says CEO/President Adam Brotman. Last weekend's GlobalShop 2000 trade show in Chicago was "our coming out party," says Sibucao.

Fast Fact #9: Sibucao is one of eight people who jumped to PlayNetworks from the Bose Corp.

Comment: Bose is a national leader in supplying sound systems. PlayNetworks can supply sound systems PLUS the music to go with them. "The bug light that attracted everyone was the opportunity to finally take commercial music and offer [clients] everything that they wanted," says Sibucao, who was head of the professional products division at Bose. "We're trying to provide a total music solution."

Fast Fact #10: PlayNetwork recently formed a strategic partnership with Business Television Video.

Comment: The Michigan-based company distributes and services high-level audio visual equipment. Clients of the two companies can now go to one source for all their business audio/video needs. "What struck us about PlayNetwork was their passion for music and the way they are able to carry that excitement into their clients' businesses," says Lynn Matson, BTV founder and president. PlayNetworks eventually hopes to go public.



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