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Strategy report
TO: Proximity music team FROM: Jalisa Sykes DATE: September 28, 2009 SUBJECT: Lime Wire strategy analysis

Here is my strategy analysis on Lime Wire. Lime Wire is a privately owned company known for peer-to-peer file sharing used for illegal downloads. It is often attacked by music companies are who losing money. If record companies do not come to terms with Lime Wire, Gen Y will continue to download individual tracks online for free.


 * Profile**

Former CEO Mark Gorton founded Lime Wire in 2000. The new CEO George Searle, is now supported by a team of business professionals: Jesse Rubenfeld (Chief Financial Officer), Ari Amanatidis (Web Designer), David Chen (Software Developer).

Lime Wire's revenue comes from two sources
 * LimeWire Pro- advance addition of the lime wire basic with advance features for $34.95
 * LimeWire Store- a digital media store


 * Competitive Landscape**

The driving forces in the music business are the suppliers. The music companies hold the power because they own 98% of the music that Gen Y consumers want. Someone will always have to get the music from the music companies first. How its past on from peer-to-peer is another issue to it.

There is also a secondary rivalry between the two biggest online music stores, Amazon and iTunes. They sell safe, fast downloads. Because Gen Y consumers often getting computer viruses from using LimeWire, they are potential customers for these rival sites.


 * Lime Wire strategy**

Lime Wire has a two part strategy to maintain and expand its competitive position.

LimeWire 5.0 for Windows and Macs- This new software has added a social element which will allow consumers to have a buddy list and network with them. This will also allow consumers to choose from sharing files openly with the public or to just family members and friends.

Partnership- Lime Wire has been forming partnerships: The Orchad, IODA, Redeye Distribution, and Comedy Central. These partnerships help get more music in the LimeWire Store, which now has over 200 million songs. The Lime Wire team wants to partner with the music industry to create a large social network that share legal files. Gen Y implications

Music companies need to understand that Gen Y prefers to download individual tracks rather than buying CDs. They like having the option to preview the songs, watching music videos on TV, listening to tracks on the radio or music blog sites before the CD is released. Even if LimeWire gets shut down, Gen Y will find another site to continue to download individual tracks.


 * References**

Crum, Chris. (2009, February 28) Lime Wire CEO Talks Music Industry & Company's Future. WebProNews. Retrieved September 28, 2009, from [|http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/02/09/lime-wire-ceo-talks-music-indust companys-future]

Denver, Anthony Bruno (July 27, 2009) Digital Briefs: Lime Wire Hiring, The Orchard To Alter Pricing. Billboard.biz. Retrieved September 28, 2009, from [|http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i6ed09ac938a47e4268d7050b0571e 565]

Terdiman, Daniel. (2009, January 8) Lime Wire mixing social networking, P2P. C-NET Crave. Retrieved September 28, 2009, from []2009 September 18. Retrieved from www.limewire.com

Blog proposal
TO: Proximity Music Team FROM: Jalisa Sykes SUBJECT: Blog post proposal Date: October 26, 2009

I propose that we do our Proximity blog post on Google's announcement that is will soon allow consumers to buy and listen to music from its-search-result page. Because this new service will attract more Gen Y to Google, it will dramatically alter the competitive landscape on music.


 * Rationale**

Google is partnering with online music providers to package songs on its search page. Visitors to the search page will then be able to either listen to music for free or buy tracks. This will clearly attract more Gen Y users to Google's sites. Google does not need to make money from the music, this will enhance the value of their search ads.


 * Sources**

I recommend that we organize the post around the following articles:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704597704574487423504899680.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/21/AR2009102100530.html

Report proposal
TO: Proximity Music Team FROM: Jalisa Sykes DATE: November 19, 2009 SUBJECT: Proposal for report on LimeWire

Lime Wire is a privately owned company known for peer-to-peer file sharing used for illegal downloads. It is often attacked by music companies who are losing money. If record companies do not come to terms with Lime Wire, Gen Y will continue to download individual tracks online for free. The Lime Wire team wants to partner with the music industry to create a large social network that share legal files.

Proximity clients who use music to target Gen Y need to understand that the LimeWire is part of a social networking revolution that is changing how music is delivered. This revolution is driven by the following forces:
 * Need**
 * __Mp3__ f__iles__ generated from "a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression” allow consumers to store, playback and transfer music easier.


 * __Portable MP3 devices__ such as Ipods, Sony Mp3 players and Zune have become smaller, lighter and therefore even more portable.


 * __Napster__ was one of the first online music file sharing services. From 1992-2001 it allowed people to shair MP3 files with other online users without regard for copyrights and paved the way for creation of other sites such as LimeWire.


 * __Social Networking sites__ such as: Myspace, Facebook, Imeem, Crushspot, and Twitter allow users to freely exchange music files.

This revolution means that advertisers who want to target Gen-Y using music must go to P2P and social networking sites to determine what songs are popular. Gen Y prefers to download individual tracks rather than buying CDs. They like having the option to preview the songs, watching music videos on TV, listening to tracks on the Internet radio or music blog sites before the CD is released. Even if LimeWire gets shut down, Gen Y will find another “social networking” site to continue to download individual tracks.

The proposed report, “LimeWire and The Social Networking Revolution,” will cover the following topics:
 * Topics**


 * How P2P has changed the music business
 * Why P2P will not go away
 * How LimeWire works
 * What LimeWire is doing to make P2P file sharing a viable business.

The following sources will be used is this report.
 * Sources**

Crum, Chris. (2009, November 15) Lime Wire CEO Talks Music Industry & Company's Future. WebProNews. Retrieved November 17, 2009, from [|http://proximityblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/lime-wire-ceo-talks-music-industry.html]

Crum reports an interview he has done with George Searle,CEO of Lime Wire. Searle discusses the legal issues about P2P, forming partnerships with big name companies such as Redeye Distribution, and how the new social networking elements of LimeWire will affect the companies growth in the future. Searle wants people to recognize LimeWire to be a legit source for music and that music companies need to find other ways to make money off of music.

Mp3. Retrieved November 15, 2009, from []

This report is on what is Mp3, the history of it, and the licensing,patent and security issues of Mp3

Napster. Retrieved November 15, 2009, from []

This report is on what Napster is,the history of Napster and how it works.

Terdiman, Daniel. (2009, January 8) Lime Wire mixing social networking, P2P. C-NET Crave. Retrieved September 28, 2009, from http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10137030-52.html.2009 September 18. Retrieved from [|www.limewire.com]

Terdiman reports on LimeWire's decision to combine social networking with P2P. Lime Wire has created LimeWire 5.0 for Windows and Macs, a new software that has added a social element which will allow consumers to have a buddy list and network with them. This will also allow consumers to choose from sharing files openly with the public or to just family members and friends. George Searle, CEO of Lime Wire, believes that people would be more comfortable with P2P if they were using it with somebody they knew.

Team conference presentation proposal
//paste team conference presentation here//

Sales letter and report prospectus
Mr. Sean Combs, CEO of Bad Boy Records Bad Boy Records 1440 Broadway 16th Floor, New York City, NY 10018

Dear Mr. Combs:

I enjoyed our conversation yesterday at Proximity's Next Generations Music seminar regarding how Bad Boy Record's promote its music to Gen Y consumers. This letter is to inform you on the powerful impact that social networking has on how music is being delivered.

As we discussed yesterday, your record company has been trying to find different ways to get Gen Y users to purchase your music. I believe Proximity can work with you to find new ways to deliver music that will benefit your company and Gen Y users.

Proximity will help you to understand that it is important to try and partner with companies similar to Lime Wire. Lime Wire is part of a social networking revolution that is changing how music is delivered. If you want to target Gen-Y consumers with your music, you must create or partner with P2P and social networking sites to sell your music and find out what songs are popular. Gen Y consumers will continue to purchase individual tracks online for free.

I welcome you and your staff to join us at Proximity's Towson office for a meeting on Bad Boy Records forming partnerships. After our meeting, we can devise a plan to expand Bad Boy records through social networking sites and P2P.

Sincerely Jalisa Sykes Associate of Music Analyst