In iPod He Trusts

That's part of the reason why, he says, local business owners are hiring him to create the soundtracks to their restaurants, stores and salons.

Porter knows music. For the past seven years he's been spinning vinyl at clubs and lounges around town as DJ Botany 500. Over the last five, he's helped run Cue Records, the Fourth and South shop known for its extensive hip-hop and electronic selection. As a DJ, he's learned to read the mood of a room and find the appropriate groove. And with Cue's impressive stock -- plus Porter's own expansive archives -- at his disposal, chances are he can find just the track he's looking for.

The trick is somehow turning Porter's knowledge and collection into a more efficient and transportable entity, rather than having him spin at a restaurant day and night.

That's where technology comes in. Armed with a small fleet of iPods, Porter's embarking on a one-of-a-kind business venture: filling the little mp3 players with a specially created musical catalog and renting them out to area businesses. "Instead of going in with my vinyl and DJing for four hours, I can DJ for them for the whole month." As far as he knows, he's the first to come up with this particular business model.

After he's hired, the first step is scouting. "I'm going in and profiling a place, seeing what the clientele is like, seeing what kind of music they already like, talking to owners," he says. "And after a couple trips, I really get plugged in." Eventually he develops a feel for what sounds would set the right moods at the right times.

"There's a certain psychology and sociology to music," he explains. "When I'm DJing -- you see people and how they react to music. You see head-nodding or foot-tapping. You see interest waning. You see a comfortability level of music.

"Each restaurant has its own different identity," he says. So far he does soundtracking for South Street's hip joint, The Latest Dish, new Old City seafood restaurant Adriatica and NoLibs hair salon/vintage boutique Closet Fever. Some places call for jazz in the afternoon, others demand worldbeats, rare grooves or indie rock. Working with the owners, Porter settles on an appropriate and adjustable assortment of songs. If the maitre d' doesn't like the vibe, selecting a new playlist is just a matter of pushing a few buttons.

"He makes it easier for us," says Adriatica bar manager Albert Gotto, who is glad not to have to change CDs anymore. Now finding the right mood is painless. "We can kick it up a bit after dinner. … It’s a very convenient service."

Because many businesses already pay licensing companies like ASCAP and BMI for the right to play the radio in their establishments, Porter doesn't have to worry about licensing issues. And most places already have some kind of sound system in place, meaning they just have to plug the iPod in and press play.

If somebody asks the bartender the name of the song playing, the iPod’s little square screen reveals the answer. Cue Sound Design, as Porter is calling this fledgling business, is a subscription service. For a couple hundred dollars a month, he comes in to switch up the playlists, and he provides the iPods.

Customizability and sheer volume -- a 30-gig iPod can hold some 7,500 songs -- give Porter's service an edge over the other options. He's cheaper than hiring an expert to purchase CDs for the instore P.A., like some restaurants do, and probably has a better hit-to-miss ratio.

"We don't have the greatest radio in Philadelphia," he says, rattling off a laundry list of his favorite artists who'll never get airplay. Right now he's hot on Break Reform ("they're like a soulful Portishead out of London"), RJD2 ("he's fuckin' the illest") and Manitoba ("like Radiohead with beats").

His playlists have no dead air and no mood-breaking commercials, which might mean satellite services like XM radio are his closest competition. "XM's pretty cool," he admits. "But it's still really corporate and you have the shit that's on the radio still on there. The categories are a little broader but it's still not cutting-edge."

This business is also flexible; he recently set up an iPod to DJ a wedding. (Still, as much as he seems to embrace technology in business, he shuns it as a DJ. He would never bring an iPod to a gig.) To Porter, a big score would be getting someone like Stephen Starr to subscribe. He practically salivates at the idea of bringing his favorite music into the more popular restaurants in town.

"My main goal for doing this is trying to get good music exposed to the right people," he says. As a record store owner, he could expect an increase in business if people were exposed to the independently produced music he sells at Cue. "There's a whole world of music that people would really enjoy in the right setting and that's kind of where I come in."

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In iPod He Trusts

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