Music Boulevard

{{Short description|Retail music information and sales website}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Music Boulevard

| type =

| foundation = 1995

| defunct = 1999

| fate = Acquired by CDNow
March 17, 1999

| location_city =

| location_country = United States

| services = Online Retail Music Store

| homepage =

| num_employees =

}}

Music Boulevard, or musicblvd.com, was a retail music information and sales website founded in 1995 by Telebase Systems.{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/NOW+OPEN!+MUSIC+BOULEVARD+AT+WWW.MUSICBLVD.COM+THE+INTERNET'S+LARGEST...-a017182281 |title=Now Open! Music Boulevard at MusicBlvd.com |publisher=Business Wire |date=1995-08-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305015154/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/NOW+OPEN!+MUSIC+BOULEVARD+AT+WWW.MUSICBLVD.COM+THE+INTERNET'S+LARGEST...-a017182281 |archive-date=2016-03-05}} In 1997 the Music Boulevard website, operated by N2K, became among the first websites to offer piracy-protected music singles for direct download.{{cite web|url=http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising/iq-news-music-boulevard-sell-downloadable-singles-30944 |title=An Online First for a Music Source |publisher=Ad Week |date=1997-07-14}} The website used Liquid Audio's single-delivery system.{{Citation| last = Tedesco| first = Richard| title = N2K Inc.'s Web site devoted to jazz: Jazz Central Station on fast track - Web site offers information, entertainment, shopping.| publisher = Broadcasting & Cable| date = 10 June 1996| quote = N2K['s] first effort online was Music Boulevard (www.musicblvd.com), a multigenre online market with 30-second sound samples from its 145,000 titles, on a Web site launched late last summer.}}"Entertainment/Weekend/Spotlight: Capitol Song Hits Internet". Rocky Mountain News. 10 September 1997. Originally created as a subsidiary of Telebase Systems by its CEO Jim Coane,{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/255144196/?match=1&terms=%22Jim%20Coane%22%20Telebase | title=Making way for new markets | newspaper=The Ithaca Journal | date=November 17, 1995 | page=9A | first=David | last=Judson}} N2K's MusicBlvd went public in October 1997.{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/113438438/?match=1&terms=%22N2K%22%20%22public%20offering%22 | title='Rolling Stone' hits the web | publisher =New York Times News Service | date=November 24, 1997 | page=2E}} The website offered more than 300,000 music titles and generated more than 80 million views in its first quarter.{{cite web|last=Row |first=Heath |url=http://www.fastcompany.com/36137/music-boulevard |title=Music Boulevard | Fast Company | Business + Innovation |publisher=Fast Company |date=1998-11-30 |accessdate=2013-09-02}}

In 1998 Music Boulevard was described by The Boston Globe as one of the "big three" online music sellers alongside CDNow and Amazon.com, and it was lauded for its extras including artist biographies, reviews, and feature stories from national music publications.Anderman, Joan. "Wired for sound shopping Web site music retailers offer guidance, discounts, and even some rarities". The Boston Globe. 25 December 1998. By 1999, the company was ranked 9th among all electronic commerce sites, with around 2.7 million visitors in the month of December.Wieffering, Eric. "Business: K-tel posts loss, but still avoids Nasdaq delisting; Retailer loses $6 million as 2nd-quarter sales drop 9.5 percent.." Star Tribune. 11 February 1999. MusicBlvd was also partnered with CBS Cable{{Citation| last = Szadkowski | first = Joseph | title = Business Times: The Browser - TV broadcasters, advertisers chase consumers to Internet.| publisher = The Washington Times|date=23 February 1998| quote = CBS Cable, a programmer of country entertainment through the Nashville Network and Country Music Television cable networks, is moving into on-line country music sales through a strategic partnership with N2K's Music Boulevard (www.musicblvd.com).}} and hotlinked to sponsors, including Billboard magazine.{{Citation| title = Music Boulevard: Telebase launches WWW multimedia music service.| publisher = Information Today|date=1 September 1995| quote = At the trendy @ cafe in New York last month, Telebase systems launched what they're touting as "the ultimate record store, as close by as the nearest computer." Music Boulevard, "the Internet's largest multimedia music store," is now open for business. Located on the World Wide Web at www.musicblvd.com, Music Boulevard is a one-stop service ... "In constructing Music Boulevard we have capitalized upon our 11 years of experience in the design and support of online services," said Jim Coane, CEO and president of Telebase Systems.}}

On March 17, 1999 MusicBlvd was acquired by CDNow, at which time its website became defunct and customers were redirected to the CDNow website.{{cite web|url=http://news.cnet.com/CDnow,-N2K-strike-first-note-after-merger/2100-1017_3-225985.html|title=CDnow, N2K strike first note after merger|last=Wolverton|first=Troy|date=May 18, 1999|work=E-Business|publisher=CNET News|accessdate=10 December 2013}}{{ cite news | url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/41660674.html?dids=41660674:41660674&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+12%2C+1999&author=Bruce+Haring&pub=USA+TODAY&desc=Music+merger+seeks+harmonious+blend+of+sales%2C+sounds&pqatl=google | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130904222216/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/41660674.html?dids=41660674:41660674&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+12,+1999&author=Bruce+Haring&pub=USA+TODAY&desc=Music+merger+seeks+harmonious+blend+of+sales,+sounds&pqatl=google | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 4, 2013 | first=Bruce | last=Haring | newspaper=USA Today | title=Music merger seeks harmonious blend of sales, sounds | date=May 12, 1999 | page=8D}} According to the book The Cdnow Story: Rags to Riches on the Internet, Music Boulevard was CDNow's "number one competitor."{{cite book|last1=Olim|first1=Jason|last2=Olim|first2=Matthew|last3=Kent|first3=Peter|title=The Cdnow Story: Rags to Riches on the Internet|year=1999|publisher=Top Floor Pub|isbn=978-0966103267|page=19}}

CDnow was acquired by Amazon.com in 2002.{{cite web | url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-976008.html | title=Amazon, CDNow make it official | first=Margaret | last=Kane | publisher=CNET | date=December 4, 2002}}