Bacardi launches its own Net radio station

Database News - Wednesday December 12, 2007

INTERNET SERVICES / RUM MAKER TURNS DJ

Bacardi launches its own Net radio station

DON SAMBANDARAKSA

Rum maker Bacardi has launched a free Internet radio station in Thailand that can stream data over a mobile (GPRS) or broadband network.

Guntipa Goyavatin, Bacardi Thailand brand manager and Aaron Kong, regional marketing relations director of technology partner Sydus, explained how B-Live radio would feature three channels that could be accessed on a PC or a compatible mobile phone.

The first channel is contemporary Thai music from Platinum and Small Room. Channel two is western music from Universal and channel three features club mixes from local and international DJs.

Kong explained that this arrangement was satisfactory to the record labels as the streaming system meant that the users could not store or forward the music. Sydus and its partners and clients remain in control of what is broadcast. Part of the arrangement is for Sydus to negotiate with the record labels and study the local laws in each county to ensure compliance and protection of intellectual property.

He noted that while the United States is considering regulation of Internet radio stations, he doubted that would happen here in Asia and expected the market to evolve quite differently in the years ahead.

Today, there is a web version for PCs and Macs and a mobile version that comes in Symbian S60 and generic Java versions to cover most phones. Bacardi has come to an agreement with AIS so that its subscribers can access the music with no GPRS data charges.

Guntipa noted that Bacardi launched B-Live radio in the UK 18 months ago, while Thailand was the first country in Asia to get the system. There is no restriction on access and people in Thailand can access the British or any other version but there will be differences in style and taste from region to region.

There will be no advertising as the idea is to build the Bacardi brand, not to make money.

Bacardi expects around 40,000 to 50,000 users to sign up within the first two months of launching. At launch, thousands of songs will be available. Future plans include the ability to submit user-generated content in the form of songs or dance mixes, which can be featured on the Internet radio station, turning B-Live into a platform for aspiring young artists.

Guntipa said that only users over 20 years old were allowed to access the station as Bacardi practised strong corporate social responsibilty and did not want young people exposed to the brand.

However, when asked if this was merely a way to circumvent laws and how she felt the new NBTC should deal with this new media, Guntipa said that it was still too early to talk about the NBTC, but noted that there had been many attempts at banning and limiting alcohol advertising in Thailand, none of which were seriously put into force.

She said someone ordering a bottle of Bacardi was with the bottle for one hour, but with the B-Live radio player, the brand would be much more visible.

The station can be accessed from wap.blivethailand.com or http://www.blivethailand.com/radio

Bangkok Post