Redwood City, Calif. based Liquid Audio, has announced a corporate restructuring plan designed to cut costs and streamline the company’s business focus.
The corporate restructuring program announced today is aimed at recording a cash flow of approximately $3.5-4 million in the second quarter. The company will announce financial results for the first quarter on May 10th.
According to Kim Strop, spokesperson for Liquid Audio, the restructuring program will include a reduction in staff of approximately 40 percent across all departments, bringing the number of employees to roughly 115, down from 195. The company also will de-emphasize non-core business areas, including kiosks and other micro-businesses, and instead focus on software licensing and digital music delivery. Additionally, Liquid Audio will reduce engineering resources devoted to recently completed products, such as plug-ins for AOL Winamp, and RealPlayer. The company also plans to consolidate its three locations into one facility.
Commenting on the corporate restructuring, Liquid Audio President/CEO Gerry Kearby said, “To preserve our strong cash position while focusing on the emerging digital subscription business, we will be leveraging our core competencies to enable our retail and channel partners to enter into this new music arena. Correspondingly, we have restructured the company to more effectively address the technological needs of this marketplace. These new services will leverage Liquid Audio’s proven music distribution infrastructure and patented technologies to accelerate the adoption of digital music.”
