Who needs a single channel dedicated to show tunes when you can have an entire network? This line of logic sparked the creation of BwayTunes.com.
It’s the brainchild of Jim Russek, ECD at theater advertising agency AKA-NYC, and Erik Hartog, a Wall Street strategist. Together, they approached 7Digital, known as a formidable stalwart in the music and content digital space with many licenses and connections with record companies.
Millions of show tunes, tens of millions of fans…hundreds of millions of dollars?
Their strategy after the jump…
From the Denver Post (via the AP):
“Every time I’d go on Amazon or iTunes, what I was looking for was hidden in 25 million songs and it was a long search,” said Russek, who with Hartog has spent three years on the project. The result is free-floating location for casual fans and music buffs: “As the specialty music store was on the corner of a side street in a city, we’re on every street corner in America.”
Full costs of the project were not discussed, but the UX on the site isn’t bad. Neither are the download prices, which are comparable to iTunes — $1.29 for many songs and $8.99 and up for albums.
Show lovers can search cast, concept, and soundtrack beginning in 1940. From LuPone to Lane, Merman to Minnelli, it’s all in there. And if the aforementioned agencies have their way, this weekend the Tony Awards really will become this network’s Super Bowl.