PassAlong Networks
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - PassAlong Networks
OR:
PassAlong Networks on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

PassAlong Networks, also known as Tennessee Pacific Group, LLC, was a developer of
digital media Digital media is any communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronics device. ' ...
innovations and services located in
Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020, its population was 83,454 ...
. The company had a
digital music Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, samp ...
library of three million licensed songs, two million of which were raw
MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
music files, and provided a series of products and services in the digital media marketplace. The company had digital music catalog agreements with the four major record labels:
Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
,
Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
,
EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
, and
Sony/BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout ...
. PassAlong’s catalog was composed of non-DRM,
MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
music files. The other major catalogs were DRM-protected files based on Microsoft WMA technology. The Independent MP3 catalog included songs from
The Orchard The Orchard may refer to: * The Orchard (company), American music and entertainment company * The Orchard (band), Canadian country music duo * ''The Orchard'' (Lizz Wright album), 2008 * ''The Orchard'' (Ra Ra Riot album), 2010 * The Orchard (t ...
,
Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing. Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...
Music,
IODA The Orchard is an American music and entertainment company, specializing in media distribution, marketing, and sales. It is a subsidiary of Sony Music, based in New York City. In 2019, the company sold off its film and television division, whic ...
,
CD Baby CD Baby, Inc. is an online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. The CD Baby music store was shut down in March 2020 with a statement that "C ...
,
Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 1 ...
, and many others.


Products

The Company Products include: * ''StoreBlocks'': online retail store-building platforms, media libraries, metadata, and web services. Its technology includes turnkey templates, Web services, reporting systems, storefront showcases, a music referral system, consumer rewards programs, legal music sharing, and a library of raw MP3s to enable consumer
interoperability Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader defi ...
. This platform currently powers over 120 digital stores, including BreakthruRadio, TransWorld’s
f.y.e. 2428392, Inc. (doing business as FYE, the initials for For Your Entertainment) is an American chain of entertainment retail stores headquartered in Albany, New York. Formerly owned by Trans World Entertainment, it began in 1993 and was expande ...
online music store and Procter & Gamble's Julie's Jukebox, a digital music store on HomeMadeSimple.c

Se
www.StoreBlocks.com
for more information. * ''OnTour'': consumer-direct media showcases, widgets, data services, and notification systems. Its core product notifies users when their favorite artists are performing a concert in their area. The OnTour
Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reach ...
Special Edition won the 2006
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
Demmxpo Award for Best Use of Technology by an Artist. Se
www.OnTour.net
for more information * ''Connected Consumer'': interactive CE interfaces and media services for the
digital media Digital media is any communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronics device. ' ...
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
. * ''FreedomMP3'': protection technologies and media tracking services * '' Speakerheart'': a subsidiary to empower independent artists to self-publish and promote their works online. Se
www.Speakerheart.com
for more information.


History of PassAlong Networks

Founded in 2002 in
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
, the company moved their headquarters to th
Factory at Franklin
south of Nashville. The founders included former
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
executive Dave Jaworski, digital media producer Brad Edmonson, former
EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
executive Scott Hughes, Scott Lewis, Robin Pou, and independent music producer Jozef Nuyens, who also own
The Castle Studio
in Franklin, Tennessee. In September 2004, PassAlong launched its first digital music download store in conjunction with
eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
. The store became the largest store on eBay. The eBay relationship is longer in place however. Then the company launched over two hundred stores, including Procter & Gamble's Home Made Simple store and the f.y.e.- for your entertainment, digital download store. PassAlong became Microsoft PlaysForSure certified in December 2004. In 2006 the company released a non-DRM solution that helps guard artist content without restricting interoperability on the consumer side. In that year PassAlong joined
DDEX Digital Data Exchange (DDEX) is an international standards-setting organization that was formed in 2006 to develop standards that enable companies to communicate information along the digital supply chain more efficiently by: * Developing standa ...
to develop
metadata Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...
standards across the industry. Members include Microsoft and
Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
. The company stopped operations on May 5, 2009. The closing was evidently a result of losing investors who were forced to pull out by the effects of the waning economy.PassAlong dies, Jaworski lives, Bandbox bets on boom
July 1, 2009. blog article by Milt Capps on Venture Nashville Connections At the time of closing, new initiatives included variable-pricing programs and in-car music downloads, digital video libraries, and social networks.


DRM and Microsoft PlaysForSure

The PassAlong library of digital songs includes both DRM files and MP3 files. The DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology used was developed by
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
to protect digital music files. They are called WMA or
Windows Media Audio Windows Media Audio (WMA) is a series of audio codecs and their corresponding audio coding formats developed by Microsoft. It is a proprietary technology that forms part of the Windows Media framework. WMA consists of four distinct codecs. The or ...
files. The certification program developed by Microsoft to ensure that portable devices (portable media players, phones, etc.) and content services have been tested against several hundred compatibility and performance requirements, is called
Microsoft PlaysForSure Microsoft PlaysForSure was a certification given by Microsoft to portable devices and content services that had been tested against several hundred compatibility and performance requirements. These requirements include codec support, Digital ri ...
. PassAlong is PlaysForSure certified.


See also

Artist-rights, Rightsholder organizations, and royaties: *
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
- Recording Industry Association of America *
CRIA A ''cria'' (pronounced ) is a juvenile llama, alpaca, vicuña, or guanaco. Etymology The term comes from the Spanish word cría, meaning "baby". Its false cognate in English, ''crya'' (pronounced ), was coined by British sailors who explored C ...
- the Canadian Recording Industry Association *
ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...
- performance rights organization for songwriters, composers, publishers * BMI - performance rights organization for songwriters, composers, publishers *
SESAC SESAC is a for-profit performance-rights organization in the United States. Founded in 1930 as the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, it is the second-oldest performance-rights organization in the United States.
- - performance rights organization for songwriters, composers, publishers *
SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collects ...
- Canadian performance rights organization *
Harry Fox Agency The Harry Fox Agency (HFA) is a provider of rights management and collector and distributor of mechanical license fees on behalf of music publishers in the United States. HFA has over 48,000 music publishing clients and issues the largest number ...
- agency that collects and distributes
mechanical license In copyright law, a mechanical license is a license from the holder of a copyright of a composition or musical work, to another party to create a "cover song", reproduce, or sample a portion of the original composition. It applies to copyrighted ...
fees on behalf of music publishers *
CMRRA The Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd. (CMRRA) is a music licensing agency based in Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 202 ...
- Canadian agency for
mechanical license In copyright law, a mechanical license is a license from the holder of a copyright of a composition or musical work, to another party to create a "cover song", reproduce, or sample a portion of the original composition. It applies to copyrighted ...
fees *
Soundscan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
- Performance tracking used by
Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...
and others * RoyaltyShare - an outsourced royalty processing solution for the music industry *
DRM DRM may refer to: Government, military and politics * Defense reform movement, U.S. campaign inspired by Col. John Boyd * Democratic Republic of Madagascar, a former socialist state (1975–1992) on Madagascar * Direction du renseignement militai ...
- Digital Rights Management *
DMCA The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or s ...
- The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, made law in 1998, and validated DRM Alternative artist rights/royalty models and open source: *
Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...
*
Creative Commons licenses A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyrics ...
* Open content *
Open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
*
Public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
*
Share-alike Share-alike (🄎) is a copyright licensing term, originally used by the Creative Commons project, to describe works or licenses that require copies or adaptations of the work to be released under the same or similar license as the original. Copy ...
Consumer rights, user experience, and device interoperability: *
Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...
* American Electronics Association - AEA, which runs CES, and many programs *
IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers focuses on the advancement of technology * User experience *
Fair use Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests ...
- US copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from rightsholders *
Consumer rights Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...
*
Interoperability Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader defi ...
- connecting people, content, devices, and digital ecosystems * DMCRA - Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (proposed law) News, Blogs and Sources: * Digital Media Wire


Notes and references

* - June 12, 2007, News.com blog on PassAlong - EMI MP3 catalog arrangement
EMI Adds DRM-Free MP3s to PassAlong Networks Online Stores
June 13, 2007 by Mark Hefflinger, Digital Media Wire
EBay links with PassAlong to offer new music service
- September 23, 2004 San Francisco Chronicle article by Benny Evangelista, Chronicle Staff Writer

Nov 3, 2005 - by Forbes.com writer David M. Ewalt
PassAlong Networks, MP3Car.com Team on Car Stereo Downloads
May 25, 2007 by Mark Hefflinger, Digital Media Wire
Five Questions with Dave Jaworski, CEO, Passalong Networks
February 22, 2007 by Jay Baage, Digital Media Wire


External links


www.passalongnetworks.com Official site

Digital Music News

PaidContent.org

Can't Stop The Music
- the blog of Dave Jaworski, CEO of PassAlong Networks {{DEFAULTSORT:Passalong Networks Defunct online music stores Defunct online companies of the United States