BurnLounge
BurnLounge, Inc. is a Delaware corporation founded in 2004, with offices in New York City. Its primary business is the BurnLounge online music store, and it is associated with Orbital Publishing, which produces printed matter for the company. [1] [2] [3] The company's principals are Alex Arnold (formerly with Excel Communications and founder and former chairman of NuEWorld.com),[4] [5] Ryan Dadd and Stephen Murray.
Described by Gartner G2 as a multi-level marketing company, [6] BurnLounge prefers the term "concentric retail" to describe its scheme. [7] The company claims that it provides record labels and artists with a fan-driven promotional channel. The advertisement videos on each BurnLounge store, however, promote recruitment rather than music.
The music service allows customers to preview and purchase music, and chat through a proprietary client. Customers wishing to sell music through their own custom pages are required to purchase a subscription with fees ranging from $29.95 to $525.95 per year. These fees only allow one to redeem sales points for BurnLounge products; participants must pay an additional $83.40 per year if they wish to exchange earned sales points for money. [8] The amount of compensation for resellers is not disclosed beforehand to interested parties, one must first register to obtain these details. [9] A Fortune article places the commission at five cents per 99-cent download. [10]
The company states that nearly 30,000 people have opened BurnLounge storefronts, including several major label musicians. [11] The service provides content supplied by Muze, with software provided by Beatport and SocialIM. [12] Version 0.9 of the software was introduced in October 2005, and version 1.0 was unveiled in Las Vegas on June 9 and 10, 2006. BurnLounge currently offers only music downloads, but other products such as audiobooks, video, ring tones, and physical merchandise are said to be planned.
Notes
- ^ "General information name search". Division of Corporations. State of Delaware. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
- ^ "Contact information". BurnLounge. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
- ^ "Contact information". Orbital Publishing. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
- ^ "SEC Files Lawsuit against E-commerce Network Marketing Company" (Press release). United States Securities and Exchange Commission. 2001-10-04. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
{{cite press release}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Nueworld.com, more than a Web site, has its Kaua'i launch". The Garden Island. Kauai Publishing Company. 2000-05-27. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Bruno, Antony (2005-08-20). "With BurnLounge, Everyone Is A Retailer". Billboard. VNU. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) (PDF reprint) - ^ "MYSPACE+ITUNES=AMWAY. Is BurnLounge a pyramid scheme?". New York Press. 2006-02-01. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Text "author-Meza, Hector" ignored (help) - ^ ""Sell music" package descriptions". BurnLounge. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
- ^ Information as listed on BurnLounge storefront sites as of 2006-07-13.
- ^ Tucker, Reed (2006-03-30). "Money to Burn?". Fortune. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "BurnLounge Launches BurnLounge 1.0 - Creating a Powerful Digital Marketplace" (Press release). BurnLounge. 2006-06-09. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
{{cite press release}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Gonsalves, Antone (2006-06-28). "SocialIM Launches Instant Messaging App For Online Communities". InformationWeek. CMP Media. Retrieved 2006-07-11.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
- BurnLounge
- Shared Compensation Plan - explanation of the BurnLounge MLM scheme, hosted by a reseller (PDF)
- BurnLounge Discussion Forum
- BurnLounge Forum
- Burnlounge Music Community Forum