GETMEDIA GETS GOING,
GOING, GONE

GetMedia Inc., a company that offered online radio stations a way to sell the records that it played, has closed its doors. The San Jose-based company's "Now Playing" technology embedded album cover art, full song lists and song samples into music broadcast online.

Users were able to select a song and securely purchase a CD without leaving the radio station's Web site. GetMedia handled orders, customer service and fulfillment. The company was one of the pioneers in enabling radio stations to display real-time playlist info. Most recently, GetMedia was working on one-button purchasing for streaming media players.

Though it was a successful company, with more than 425 radio stations signed up, it wasn't becoming profitable quickly enough in the current climate of dot-coms going dot-bomb. Said Sr. VP Sales & Business Development Joe Cariffe, "The investment community has grown very wary of business models that rely primarily on e-commerce and advertising to generate revenue. Plus, they think this whole Internet thing will be replaced by computer chips implanted in people's brains."

The netco is hoping to transition its technology to a new provider. If you have a few million bucks to spare, maybe you can hook them up.