Launch Media Inc

Two other Tech Coast online music firms are expected to announce a partnership today. CheckOut.com's Wherehouse Online Stores will become the exclusive e-commerce retailer for CDs, cassettes, videos and video games for Launch Media's music-oriented Web site. The Wherehouse Online Stores will be integrated into Launch.com, allowing Launch's 2 million members to purchase music directly from the site, said David Goldberg, chief executive of Santa Monica-based Launch Media.

Launch Media Inc. in Santa Monica said Tuesday that it has acquired NVS, an Anaheim company that produces and licenses music video programming, for an undisclosed price. NVS, with a library of more than 24,000 music videos, creates compilations for third parties, such as retailers, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs, theme parks and airlines.

Launch Media, the Santa Monica firm that runs a music-oriented Web site and CD-ROM magazine, will announce a deal today to become the exclusive music content partner for NetZero, the fast-growing free Internet service provider based in Westlake Village. Launch Chairman and Chief Executive David Goldberg wouldn't say how much his company will pay for the premium placement on NetZero. But he did reveal that Launch bought 62,410 shares of NetZero on the day the company went public last month.

Launch Media, the Santa Monica firm that runs a music-oriented Web site and CD-ROM magazine, said that its second-quarter revenue jumped 88% to $3.9 million, while its net loss widened 46% to $8.8 million. The loss of 76 cents per share was less than the 81 cents per share that analysts had been expecting, according to estimates compiled by earnings tracker IBES International. Nearly 90% of Launch's revenue came from advertising, compared with 6% from subscriptions and 5% from merchandise sales.

Launch Media and RealNetworks will team up to distribute music videos on the Internet. Santa Monica-based Launch is expected to announce today that it will begin streaming videos using the RealSystem G2 on Tuesday. In addition, it will debut a music video channel for the RealPlayer G2. Launch's alliance with Seattle-based RealNetworks will allow Apple Macintosh users to access music videos and interviews on Launch's Web site.

Launch Media and Road Runner are expected to announce a strategic partnership today that will put Launch's music content on the high-speed Internet service. The Santa Monica firm will provide streaming music videos, music tracks that may be downloaded, interviews, concert performances and exclusive editorial content to Road Runner's 250,000 subscribers. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Launch Media shares recorded a 29% gain in their first day of trading Friday, rising $6.38 to $28.38 on Nasdaq. The Santa Monica firm, which produces a music-oriented Web site and CD-ROM magazine, saw its stock rise as high as $36.69 in early-morning trading, then linger in the low-$30 range before dropping at the end of the day. Launch's co-founders, David Goldberg and Robert Roback, became paper millionaires.

Launch Media, the Santa Monica company that produces a music-oriented Web site and CD-ROM magazine, is expected to announce three deals today that will significantly expand its visibility on the Internet. Launch (http://www.launch.com) will become an anchor tenant on America Online, the premier music content provider for the MSN Entertainment Channel and a music content provider for the Snap portal site owned by NBC and CNet. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Launch Media, a Santa Monica company that produces a Web site and CD-ROM magazine about new music, filed papers last week to raise as much as $40.25 million in an initial public offering. Launch said it would use the proceeds to attract a larger audience, boost sales and marketing, and develop new technology and content. The company, which targets 12- to 34-year-olds, has 275,000 magazine subscribers and reached 849,000 Web surfers in December, according to Media Metrix.

Former Coca-Cola Co. marketing chief Sergio Zyman has joined the board of directors at Launch Media Inc., a Santa Monica-based new media company. Zyman, 53, is credited with helping to turn Coke into a dominant worldwide brand and building Sprite into one of the Atlanta-based company's most successful beverage lines. "Sergio did some tremendous work at Coke in the early '90s in terms of brand positioning and brand building," said John Sicher, publisher of Beverage Digest, a Bedford Hills, N.Y.