James Anthony Gore

James A Gore (born July 25, 1971) is a business architect and designer, entrepreneur and early pioneer in the field of Enhanced CD & Interactive CD-ROM technologies. He has founded several software companies focusing on internet-driven software products and services.
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Background
Javakitty Media, formed in Atlanta in 1999 with his brother Cedric Gore, developed and launched two key Enhanced CD technologies, Bandlink and BlinkCard. His research and development in this field has led to products and services that have been widely adopted by Fortune 500 companies as well as major and independent record labels for use on hundreds of commercial music releases.
Technological innovations
Bandlink's key innovation was to replace the extra content on Enhanced CDs with software that allowed the user to connect via the internet to exclusive content stored externally. This alleviated the problem of limited CD storage space, and allowed the additional content to be virtually unlimited in size and constantly updated, as required. Of Bandlink, Gore has stated that "the idea is to simulate the concept of going to a concert", later elaborating "Bandlink captures constantly changing data be it text, video or sound, limited only by the artist's creativity, all in real time... It releases the genie in the music CD".
In early 2002, Bandlink won a special Consumer Products Technology Award from the Atlanta-based Resource Forum, and Gore thereafter secured a license agreement with Arista Records to incorporate the software into new music releases by three artists, including TLC's 3D. The deal was later extended to seven more albums in 2004, including Carlos Santana's Shaman.
Benefits for the music consumer were reported to include:
a fully self-contained "insert and play" experience with no need for special codes or registration at web sites. Additionally, Bandlink's customizable interface which consists of standard browser, chat and player buttons allows fans to enjoy free access to original, exclusive content and the latest, dynamic information related to a music CD including bios, news, tour info, lyrics, photos, videos and mailing lists, as well as interactive features such as community chat, while online.
For the record company, perceived benefits were not restricted to potentially improved sales:
Arista benefit from access to real time CD playback statistics based on hourly, daily, weekly, bi-weekly, quarterly and annual fan usage. This intelligence can subsequently be applied immediately for more effective marketing and promotion campaigns.
Bandlink's twin poles - enhanced content for music buyers regarding their favourite artists, plus enhanced feedback for music sellers about which of their products were popular - was known as "CD Intelligence",
The LA Times nevertheless noted that "this kind of monitoring may unnerve some consumers",
The technology is also intended to reduce music piracy implicitly, by adding value back into physical ownership of the shop-bought CD.
Bandlink continues to be incorporated into growing numbers of major CD releases, including Norah Jones's Feels like Home, Sarah McLachlan's Afterglow and Thievery Corporation's Versions.

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