Online music store operator
Amie Street Inc. prices its songs based on market demand -- the more customers who buy a song, the more it costs. Now, the company is apparently engaged in price negotiations of its own as it prepares to complete a new second round of venture funding.
As Amie Street unveiled a new
Web site with expanded editorial and social networking features today, co-founder Joshua Boltuch confirmed to me that he's anticipating the completion of a Series B round by the end of the year. Boltuch wouldn't specify the target dollar amount for the new round, but said the retailer has engaged in conversations with traditional venture firms, strategic investors and other types of financial organizations in advance of the new round.
The new funding will build on a Series A round of unspecified size, closed in 2007. Existing investors include Amazon.com Inc. [
AMZN] and angel investor David Hirsch, formerly a sales executive with Google Inc. [
GOOG], as well as other angels; Boltuch said all are expected to provide "strong participation" in the upcoming round.
Along with the enhanced content, the new beta site includes a "digital locker" of all the songs a customer has ever purchased, making them available through any Web browser into which the customer logs in. The songs can be playlisted and sorted through an interface not dissimilar to iTunes' or Rhapsody's as well.
Boltuch says the company has also recently added content from indie label
Razor & Tie and distributor
Redeye Distribution Inc., and now sports more than 1 million songs, including numerous unsigned artists.
-- Paul BonanosSee June 25 post from Tech Confidential about Amie Street
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