be seen throughout both of these types transactions. The sponsors get exposure for their brands through banner ads, and more interactive advertising such as coupon offers and prize drawings entries. “We wrap each step of the checkout process with the brand,” says Ziskrout.
Participating advertisers with Dympol can determine the ideal consumers and transactions for them to target, either based on demographics, or even a specific set of songs. The company is currently supporting about eight advertiser campaigns on its site, and is selling more than 100,000 songs, a number that fluctuates based on the advertisers’ goals and other factors, Ziskrout says. Dympol uses a “price optimization technology” that determines what rebate amount can generate the greatest purchasing activity without costing too much. Advertisers set a cost per transaction that they pay to Dympol. The company’s profits come from those fees, minus the cost of the rebate that consumers get, and a slice that is occasionally given to retailer or musician partners.
The version of the service that plugs in with external music retailer websites will soon enter a private testing phase, and will most likely be up and running sometime this summer. Recently, Topspin Media, a company that powers e-commerce through artist websites, signed a letter indicating its intent to use Dympol’s plug-in interface service, Ziskrout says.
Dympol has 14 people working for it, spread across the country. Locally, it operates out of space at Cambridge’s Viximo, a virtual goods provider and a type of retail target Dympol aims to expand to, Ziskrout says. In the future, Ziskrout sees the Dympol service working with a slew of entertainment forms that consumers purchase online: e-books, apps, audio books, movies, games, and virtual goods. By that time, the M in Dympol would stand for media, a much broader market than just music.
“That’s our real inevitable domain,” he says.
