Muze, one of the music (and other products like books etc) metadata company, has replaced its founder and industry fixture Paul Zullo, and appointed Bill Stensrud, currently chairman of the board, as its new CEO. Muze was recently bought out by venture firm Enterprise Partners Venture Capital, where Stensrud is a managing director.
Muze is among the early pioneers in the music/books metadata space; the company was founded in 1991 and rose to prominence during the dotcom-boom days when online retailers used its database. These days online music services have been added to the roster.
Competitors left in the space include Gracenote and AllMusicGuide … from reliable sources, I know that Enterprise is looking for a rollup play in the space, and there is some talk of Enterprise buying out AMG and rolling it up with Muze. AMG is now under the ownership of the Yucaipa Cos.
It is interesting to see a VC firm getting so involved in running a company at this late a stage in its lifecycle. Among the parallel examples: Dimensional Asociates buying out online indie music service eMusic, The Orchard, a company that aggregates and distributes the work of independent musicians, and the Digital Club Network, a company that distributes live music online.
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