Chaos.com
Encyclopedia
Chaos.com is an online retailer now based in Melbourne
, Australia
that offers CDs, DVDs, Games, Books, Merchandise and Music Downloads. Similar to Amazon.com
it ships to all countries including Australia, USA, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Spain and Singapore. Founded in Sydney
, Australia by its CEO Rob Appel it was the first Australian retailer of music over the Internet
.
Established in 1995 by Rob Appel under the name Chaos Music Market it was one of the pioneers of Australian e-commerce and was able to grow quickly in its early years through an association with Australia's largest ISP at the time, OzEmail
. Initially the service was located at the URL www.cmm.com.au, then moved to www.chaosmusic.com in 1998 and finally to www.chaos.com in 2003. The Chaos.com domain was previously registered to Professor Tony Rutkowski and used as a Chaos Theory
discussion area before it was sold to Chaos Group Limited in 2003.
During the dot com boom
Chaos attracted the attention of Sydney entrepreneurs Malcolm Turnbull
and David Coe who provided seed capital before the Company was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange
in December 1999 raising AUD$15M as set out in the Chaos Music Limited Prospectus. The Chaos Board at the time included David Coe (Chairman), Rob Appel (CEO), David Spence (OzEmail
), Lucy Turnbull
(FTR) and Victoria Doidge (Chaos Marketing Executive). Shortly after the listing the dot com crash hit the market the Chaos share price declined substantially over the next 3 years. Chaos continued to grow strongly through this period and was ranked as the fastest growing company in Australia by Deloitte in the Fast 50 Awards for 2002 due to revenue growth of 5,143% over 3 years. The Chaos website won the Onya Award for Most Popular Australian Online E-Tailer for three years running between 1999 and 2001.
In 2003 the Chaos business was privatized in a management buyout
headed by Rob Appel who continued as CEO of the new holding company
known as Chaos Entertainment Pty Ltd. The public entity went on to transform itself into a successful energy retailer known as Australian Power and Gas (ASX: APK).
Chaos.com continues to offer retail services through its website and by 2010 had a member base of over 350,000. It now offers CDs and music downloads, DVDs, books, games and merchandise, ships globally and provides payment facilities for most major currencies. It also continues to operate The CAN (Chaos Artist Network) which was first launched in 2000 and provides digital and physical distribution services to independent artists. The CAN is often referred to as 'Australia's CDBaby'.
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
that offers CDs, DVDs, Games, Books, Merchandise and Music Downloads. Similar to Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
it ships to all countries including Australia, USA, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Spain and Singapore. Founded in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia by its CEO Rob Appel it was the first Australian retailer of music over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
Established in 1995 by Rob Appel under the name Chaos Music Market it was one of the pioneers of Australian e-commerce and was able to grow quickly in its early years through an association with Australia's largest ISP at the time, OzEmail
OzEmail
OzEmail was a major Internet service provider in Australia, until it was acquired by the iiNet ISP on February 28, 2005.-History:In the early 1980s, Sean Howard was the editor of the Australian Personal Computer magazine and was running a small electronic mail service called Microtex...
. Initially the service was located at the URL www.cmm.com.au, then moved to www.chaosmusic.com in 1998 and finally to www.chaos.com in 2003. The Chaos.com domain was previously registered to Professor Tony Rutkowski and used as a Chaos Theory
Chaos theory
Chaos theory is a field of study in mathematics, with applications in several disciplines including physics, economics, biology, and philosophy. Chaos theory studies the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, an effect which is popularly referred to as the...
discussion area before it was sold to Chaos Group Limited in 2003.
During the dot com boom
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
Chaos attracted the attention of Sydney entrepreneurs Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2004, and was Leader of the Opposition and parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party from 16 September 2008 to 1 December 2009.Turnbull has represented the Division...
and David Coe who provided seed capital before the Company was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange
Australian Stock Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....
in December 1999 raising AUD$15M as set out in the Chaos Music Limited Prospectus. The Chaos Board at the time included David Coe (Chairman), Rob Appel (CEO), David Spence (OzEmail
OzEmail
OzEmail was a major Internet service provider in Australia, until it was acquired by the iiNet ISP on February 28, 2005.-History:In the early 1980s, Sean Howard was the editor of the Australian Personal Computer magazine and was running a small electronic mail service called Microtex...
), Lucy Turnbull
Lucy Turnbull
Lucinda Mary "Lucy" Turnbull, née Hughes AO , a former Australian politician and former Lord Mayor of Sydney, is a prominent Australian business leader and company director. Turnbull was the first female Lord Mayor of Sydney, between 2003 and 2004 and was Deputy Lord Mayor, between 1999 and 2003...
(FTR) and Victoria Doidge (Chaos Marketing Executive). Shortly after the listing the dot com crash hit the market the Chaos share price declined substantially over the next 3 years. Chaos continued to grow strongly through this period and was ranked as the fastest growing company in Australia by Deloitte in the Fast 50 Awards for 2002 due to revenue growth of 5,143% over 3 years. The Chaos website won the Onya Award for Most Popular Australian Online E-Tailer for three years running between 1999 and 2001.
In 2003 the Chaos business was privatized in a management buyout
Management buyout
A management buyout is a form of acquisition where a company's existing managers acquire a large part or all of the company.- Overview :Management buyouts are similar in all major legal aspects to any other acquisition of a company...
headed by Rob Appel who continued as CEO of the new holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
known as Chaos Entertainment Pty Ltd. The public entity went on to transform itself into a successful energy retailer known as Australian Power and Gas (ASX: APK).
Chaos.com continues to offer retail services through its website and by 2010 had a member base of over 350,000. It now offers CDs and music downloads, DVDs, books, games and merchandise, ships globally and provides payment facilities for most major currencies. It also continues to operate The CAN (Chaos Artist Network) which was first launched in 2000 and provides digital and physical distribution services to independent artists. The CAN is often referred to as 'Australia's CDBaby'.
External links
- Chaos.com http://www.chaos.com
- The CAN http://www.thecan.com.au
- Article by Chaos CEO Rob Appel, published by the Music Council of Australia, "Digital distribution for unsigned musicians Digital distribution for unsigned musicians" http://www.mca.org.au/web/component/option,com_kb/task,article/article,152/