Harmony Central, Inc. and zZounds.com Merge
Vulcan Ventures Inc. & Zilkha Ventures Back Merger of the Two Leading Online Resources for Musicians – Sites Continue to Operate Independently
December 13, 1999 - Two leading Internet music sites announced today that they had merged to form the leading resource for musicians on the Internet. At the same time, they announced that the merged company had raised a large first round of venture capital funding to finance aggressive expansion plans.
HarmonyCentral.com, Inc. was formed by a merger of Harmony-Central.com and zZounds.com. Harmony-Central.com has grown since its 1994 founding in a dorm room to be the largest community of musicians in the world, on or offline. zZounds is a leading online and offline retailer of musical instruments and professional audio equipment.
Harmony-Central.com and zZounds.com will continue to operate as independent Web sites under the parent corporation of HarmonyCentral.com, Inc.
At the same time, the merged company announced the raising of substantially more than $10 million to fund aggressive expansion plans. Lead funding for HarmonyCentral.com, Inc. was provided by Vulcan Ventures Inc., the investment organization of Paul G. Allen. Also participating in the first funding round were Zilkha Venture Partners and several angel investors.
"This merger is about finding new ways to provide musicians with the tools they need," said Ray Campbell, Chairman and CEO of HarmonyCentral.com, Inc., and founder of zZounds.com.
"The existing retail and educational channels were not designed to handle the vast variety of products and tools available today. Perhaps that explains why so many have turned to the Web for both information and products," he said.
Campbell added that the merged companies were completely committed to maintaining and extending their lead in the Internet musician space. "No one else has even a fifth of the traffic we do," he said, "and no one else offers as many products or has more online customers. Our top managers are also all seasoned online veterans who get the Internet. We will be the lasting solution in this space."
Harmony-Central.com to Expand Editorial Resources
The funds raised will be used to expand the editorial resources of Harmony-Central.com. Already the leading Internet destination for musicians – with more than 1.2 million unique visitors per month and 15,000 pages of content – Harmony-Central.com will hire additional staffers to create even more unique content.
"From the beginning, Harmony-Central.com has put musicians and their needs first. We will continue to do that, but now will be able to devote much greater resources," said Scott Lehman, Harmony-Central.com’s co-founder and Vice President of Content and Publishing.
Lehman said a new version of the Harmony-Central.com site would launch this spring, and would include major new features such as online education, collaborative music making using Rocket Network studios, expanded user forums, digital uploads and downloads, and vastly expanded interactive editorial content.
"Harmony-Central.com has always been about musicians responding to the needs of musicians. We have always had the vision; now we have the resources. Our new site will allow us to use the Internet in unprecedented new ways to serve musicians," he said.
Harmony-Central.com will continue to offer links to retailers other than zZounds, Lehman said, including them in its unique searchable geographical listing of retailers. "Our success has been built on serving and informing our users," he said, "and we remain fully committed to those goals."
zZounds.com Expands Customer Resources, Service & Product Selection
The merger will also benefit zZounds.com in significant ways, including co-marketing opportunities and shared customer resources (such as product reviews, buyers guides, and other informational Web links). With access to the merger’s capital and technological resources, zZounds.com is already expanding its impressive product selection (currently in excess of 100,000 products) and knowledgeable customer service staff. The site is also about to begin an extensive advertising campaign in a wide range of print magazines.
"Customer service is where the e-tailing battles of the future will be fought," noted Doug Provisor, Vice President of Marketing for HarmonyCentral.com, Inc. "In this regard, our new merger improves zZounds.com’s positioning even more.
"And unlike other musical instrument retailers that are trying to reconcile web sites with high-overhead catalog or brick-and-mortar operations, zZounds.com is the only major online music instrument retailer built from the ground up for e-commerce — allowing us to offer the lowest prices anywhere, backed by a 30-day price and total satisfaction guarantee."
zZounds also plans the launch of a new site this spring. The new zZounds site will feature more product information, a more personalized customer experience, and state-of-the-art customer service and order tracking features.
About HarmonyCentral.com, Inc.
HarmonyCentral.com, Inc. is a privately-held company that owns and operates Harmony-Central.com and zZounds.com — two of the most successful and visited sites of their kind. The company’s major funders include Vulcan Ventures Inc. and Zilkha Venture Partners.
Harmony-Central.com, incorporated as Harmony Central, Inc., was founded in 1994 by Scott Lehman and Wilson Chan. At the time, both were majoring in Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). By 1999, it became the leading Internet resource for musicians, producers, and other audio/music professionals and enthusiasts — supplying valuable information from news and product reviews to classified ads and chat rooms. The site attracts more than 70,000 unique visitors daily, and over 1.2 million unique visitors each month.
zZounds.com, incorporated as Sound Investment, LLC, was founded in September 1996 by Ray Campbell, a lawyer and former professional journalist. By 1999, zZounds offered more than 100,000 items for sale online, and was filling hundreds of orders per day.
In November 1999, Harmony-Central merged with zZounds. The two sites operate independently, and are managed by HarmonyCentral.com, Inc.
©1999 HarmonyCentral.com, Inc. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All guarantees, gear giveaways, and other offers are subject to terms as detailed at www.zzounds.com, and are subject to withdrawal or revision without notice.