CONSUMER
Fanzines face on-line competition
31-10-2000
by Aoidin Scully
A UK company has launched an innovative Web-based alternative to entertainment magazines.
Futurcast is a prepaid card which lets customers access exclusive Web sites that feature material such as music and video clips by celebrity figures. Billed as a "revolutionary concept in entertainment," Futurcast plans to expand into Ireland in the next six weeks.
To access the site, which is primarily aimed at teenagers, the consumer buys a single fee pre-paid Futurcast card, priced STG3, from selected retail outlets across the UK like Spar and Londis. By scratching off a panel on the back of the card, a unique PIN number is revealed. The consumer then goes to the Futurcast Web site and enters this code to view the exclusive content of the artist on-line. Two hundred and fifty thousand cards will initially be produced.
The company says Futurcast "combines all the benefits of a regular magazine or fanzine with the additional dynamism, interactivity and up-to-the-minute updates an on-line site provides."
The first card launched features the singer and actress Martine McCutcheon, and allows users exclusive access to snippets from McCutcheon's new book; clips from her new album and video; exclusive on-line chats; and discounts on a range of Martine merchandise.
In addition to music, Futurcast cards will cover a range of subjects - from TV and movies to education, sports and lifestyle. Each site will have a "shelf-life" of three months.
"Martine McCutcheon was a great hook for us to launch the whole Futurcast concept as she has a large fan base and is a high-profile star recognised across a whole range of audiences, " said Wade Barker, Director of Futurcast. "However, there is a great deal of potential for the concept to expand further across a whole raft of subject areas beyond the music industry. The Martine card is just one of many on-line entertainment packages we are looking to launch over the coming year."
Barker claimed that he had already been approached by one of the UK's largest bands, and would release details of a new signing later on Tuesday.
Founded by Barker in August 2000, Futurcast has the financial backing of Global Internet Billing (GIB), one of the UK's largest on-line payment solution providers.
Wade points out that as Futurcast cards are pre-paid, they overcome any perceived security issues of purchasing over the Internet and also provide access to the World Wide Web for those audience groups (primarily teenagers) which do not have access to credit cards. According to a recent survey 45 percent of adults in the UK do not hold a credit card.
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