SINPHONICWavelength managed to contact Sinphonic after a series of hostile takeovers and nasty mergers. An interview between the entity known as Sinphonic and an anonymous Wavelength correspondent follows.
It has been a while since you have played live. Could you tell us what
you've been up to?
Through the combination of our aggressive network construction, back office
development programs and key acquisitions, Sinphonic has built one of the
most advanced, comprehensive and strategic music-based assets in the world.
With sales, installations and network deployment all accelerating and the
integration of the new CD The Fourth Way completed, we are executing across
the music business to rapidly capitalize on the significant Sinphonic
opportunity.
What can people expect from your live show?
There is a set of statistics Sinphonic reports that provides a useful
indication of operating performance. These statistics are fan growth,
average revenue per fan unit (ARPFU), churn rate and marketing cost of
acquisition (COA) per gross fan addition. Sinphonic is pleased with its
performance of each of these key metrics.
Could you say a bit more about the marketing cost of acquisition statistic?
Marketing COA expenses, consisting of postering, strings, patch cords, drum
skin subsidies, etc. are incurred and expensed upfront. Postering-related
expenditures tend to be fixed at a certain dollar level based on an estimate
of what is necessary to generate a targeted amount of activations in a given
live appearance. To the extent the actual take of the door activations are
higher or lower than targeted, then the overall marketing COA statistic will
be better or worse, respectively.
Great. What else is going on?
At the end for fiscal 1999 Sinphonic has $855 million of unrestricted cash
and short-term deposits on its balance sheet to fund its exciting and rapid
growth. Sinphonic has the scale, momentum and resources necessary to carry
out our strategy for 2000. Shareholder earnings increased from $4.26 to
$8.47 (diluted) per share, but there's a lot more to the story. At the same
time we've improved our margins and lowered our costs. Reducing the cost of
our rehearsals and reigning in our exorbitant consumption of alcoholic
beverages has made us more competitive and positioned us to be an industry
leader.
What are your plans for the future?
Sinphonic will continue to launch new markets and expand the coverage area
of its networks as justified by attractive potential returns on investment.
Any final words?
1999 was a tremendous year of achievement for Sinphonic both on the building
and operating fronts. The aforementioned answers to your insightful and
penetrating questions clearly demonstrates Sinphonic is uniquely positioned
for success. On behalf of the entire Sinphonic team, we will continue to
deliver on the promise.