BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : FEBRUARY 7, 2000 ISSUE
BUSINESS WEEK E.BIZ -- SPECIAL REPORT -- LEADERS Ernesto Schmitt: peoplesound.com Ernesto Schmitt peoplesound.com Position Chairman and President Contribution Founded Europe's first free online music site Ambition To become the world's top music site by linking bands, consumers, and the recording industry While hanging out with friends in a London bar in November, 1998, Ernesto Schmitt, 28, came up with the then-novel idea of giving away music on the Web. In a flash, the self-described frustrated disk jockey quit his lucrative job at Boston Consulting Group. In November, 1999, he launched peoplesound.com Ltd., a British site where consumers can listen to music for free or buy and download complete albums. By the time peoplesound.com made its debut, there were already dozens of free music sites on the Web. But Chairman Schmitt is serving up more--and making his mark on the music industry. His localized German, British, and French sites showcase 4,000 independent European bands--all screened by the company's 750 talent scouts, so it's not cluttered with schlock rock. And to increase customer satisfaction, he dreamed up a unique search system that allows consumers to zero in on just the tunes they'll like. He's playing a major role in a fundamental shift in the music industry. Thanks to sites like his, musicians no longer have to rely on big publishing companies to distribute their CDs. They can appeal directly to listeners over the Web and get a generous cut of the revenues. ''On peoplesound we got a ton of press for free and we're able to sell our music anywhere in the world,'' says Steven Battelle, lead singer for Stumble, a British punk band. Convincing investors that you can actually make money by giving music away isn't easy. But Schmitt has attracted the likes of Bernard Arnault's Europ@web. Still, he refuses to take himself too seriously: He jokes about his ''Eurotrash'' credentials. (Mom's Uruguayan. Dad's German. He grew up in Belgium.) But with an initial public offering and a trans-European rollout slated for later this year, Schmitt is poised to become Europe's 500-pound gorilla of the online music business. By Kerry Capell _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS Europe's Top e.business Leaders Ola Ahlvarsson: Result Venture Knowledge International Tomasz Czechowicz: Poland.com Nina Brink: World Online International N.V. Hasso Plattner: SAP Renato Soru: Tiscali Mark Schneider: United Pan-European Communications Kurt Hellstrom: Ericsson Ernesto Schmitt: peoplesound.com Chahram Becharat: Europ@web Paulus Neef: Pixelpark AG INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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