Former Axis boss managing club music website in Italy
by Franco Aloisio
In Malta he used to run the Axis discotheque and he also held several important posts with government-owned companies such as Telemalta, Telecell, Skytel and MOBC.
Now he has left the island and is succesfully managing a growing club music website in Italy - Ebop Media. He is also the owner of an internet cafe' in the Mediterranean's "party haven", Ibiza.
Chris Grech, not to be confused with the other Chris Grech of Bay Street and Dhalia, is well-known in Malta within the entertainment business and telecommunications sector.
His present job is a combination of the experience he has gained over the years from both sectors. In September of last year, Mr Grech left Malta after being headhunted by various foreign venture capitalists whom he had met six months earlier.
"It was a particular time in Malta, because there were things happening in the local leisure industry which were very unfortunate, such as the decision to restrict the closing times for discos. Thus I decided to seek foreign pastures," Mr Grech said.
He added: "It was an opportunity of a lifetime to start working with a company called Ebop Media. Initially, Ebop Media started off as an on-line magazine but it has now developed into an e-commerce venture focusing on the club and music scene.
"When I arrived in London the whole venture had just started off. I started running the dance music and clubbing section of Ebop. We interviewed the best DJs in England, most of whom I had known while working at Axis."
Ebop Media carries out club reviews on a weekly basis, and sets up merchandising deals, while having a world exclusive agreement with Plastic Fantastic, the leading DJs record store.
"The trick is to offer content on the web and transform that into e-commerce," said Mr Grech.
In a matter of months, Ebop expanded in different countries and the company now has a presence in New York, Italy, Australia and
London. Mr Grech, who has also recently opened an internet cafe' in Ibiza, said that he was then approached to work with and manage the Italian Ebop branch.
"I wasn't particularly excited about working in Italy. However I went to Verona and there I introduced the owners of Ebop to the people who used to run the popular Italian TV programme, Match Music."
Match Music was a revolutionary programme in Italy in the 1990s as it focused a lot on the club scene. The programme was very popular in Malta too, as it was shown on Italia 7. In 1994, Mr Grech had brought over the Match Music event to Malta.
"We came up with a particular business model which involved setting up a TV programme which would capture the audience. That audience would be translated into a net audience and that, in turn, into e-commerce."
Ebop's site will now start being advertised through the television programme partially owned by the same company. The web site, www.ebop.it, goes on-line tomorrow. The site will include short, edited videos.
With an MBA in finance, and a wealth of experience, Mr Grech, who is still relatively young, is confident the site he is managing will do well. "The main challenge is survival. Nine out of every 10 sites go bankrupt," he said.
Contact: www.ebop.co.uk
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