ShadowMan Entertainment uses technology developed by AT&T for e-music marketing

ShadowMan Entertainment, an Internet record label specializing in Internet marketing using a proprietary e-mail delivery system and an entertainment database, has begun testing an MP4 "postcard." The postcard, which uses technology developed by AT&T, is a multimedia file that compresses audio files to a 16:1 ratio compared to the 11: 1 ratio that MP3s offer. The increased compression rate creates audio files that are small enough to be e-mailed. MP4/20s play a 20second song sample. When the viewer's mouse is dragged across the icon, a tool tip pops up, informing the viewer that he or she has the ability to click on the picture and visit the artist's Web site. By clicking on the maximize button, viewers will see the postcard expand and switch to a second picture with dynamic text. The dynamic text is read off a page on the Internet by the postcard. If the viewer is not currently on the Internet, then a default text is automatically inserted.

No. 536, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo