Internet radio service Radio Free Virgin said Wednesday that it cut its staff nearly in half, joining a growing list of media companies
that have laid off employees in attempts to reduce costs.
Los Angeles-based Radio Free
Virgin, part of Richard Branson's Virgin Group conglomerate, said it
has dropped to 11 employees from 26. The company said the layoffs affected
people working with content programming.
Zack Zalon, general manager of Radio Free Virgin, said in a statement sent
to CNET News.com that the layoffs were in "response to a shift in current
internal business needs." He added that Radio Free Virgin intends to bring
back a portion of its staff on an as-needed contract basis. In the
meantime, the company will use several employees from a sister company,
Virgin Entertainment Group, to keep services running.
The online radio service is not alone in making such cuts. As the dot-com
and advertising slowdown drags on, small online music ventures such as ClickRadio and MusicBuddha are shutting down or cutting back.
Some services are relying on alliances with online giants such as AOL Time Warner and Yahoo. Although the Virgin Group has a substantial war chest,
its properties stretch from Virgin Atlantic airlines to record labels and
retail music stores, diluting any online focus.
The company said laid-off employees were notified last week and given
compensation packages.
Despite the staff reduction, Radio Free Virgin said it will continue its
services, which were launched last year. The company lets music
fans listen to streamed audio via a free, downloadable digital player.
Users also can read album information, browse reviews and purchase music.
Radio Free Virgin has been building partnerships with companies such
as RioPort and Music.com in hopes of shifting music fans from free
file-swapping services. Radio Free Virgin has also been working with the
music industry to protect artists' rights by unplugging a record feature on its
digital media player, for example.
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