WITH HIS PEACE-love-andunderstanding vibe, his fullstrength Marlboros and his artfully mussed hair, Martijn Tjho gives the impression that he really, really wants to be a rock star. However, the 33-year-old Dutchman has developed a software programme for the music industry that may turn him into a major technology star instead.

Tjho, a self-confessed geek, has made business-tobusiness supply chain management sexy enough to excite the leather-trouser brigade. Through his Amsterdam-based outfit Independent IP (IIP), he has launched a digital platform that every record label can use to store its entire catalogue in one virtual warehouse. Simply put, Tjho’s proprietary software, Fuga, can then manage, license, move and track music anywhere in the world on behalf of its rights’ holders.

Just a few of clicks on their laptops and record label executives can find out which of their artists are selling well or badly, in almost real time, and in what territories. It can make sure that distribution of back catalogues is in place via iTunes or another cyber-retailer when a band is on tour. And, as well as enabling the storage of millions of files, Fuga, says Tjho, can convert media formats with professional quality.

“So far, eight major companies have signed licence agreements,” he reveals. “And we are converting fast now – around four new contracts a week. We can revolutionise digital music distribution by connecting and empowering the music industry in the most effective manner,” he claims. “We can manage their entire supply chain and never lose control over their digital assets.”

Sitting in the bar of Amsterdam’s most expensive hotel, the not yet quite completed Grand Amrath, Tjho – whose father was a hotel entrepreneur before founding a charity for drug addicts – has strong opinions on the furnishings. It soon transpires he has strong opinions on everything, not least the music industry’s business model. “Songs should debut as ringtones for mobile phones, then they should be downloaded, then finally released as CDs”, he sighs. “The music industry business model should be: hear, like, buy, in that order. But the record companies get it wrong most of the time.”

Tjho is convinced that the timing is perfect for Fuga, which has raised €1.6m (£1.15m) in two funding rounds from Dutch and Chinese- Singaporean investors and is now being dangled in front of venture capitalists. “The music industry is everything that involves recording, touring, television, merchandising, etc,” he explains. “When people say the music industry is in decline, what they actually mean is that CD sales are in decline. CD sales are collapsing by 25% a year but digital sales are slower than they should be because of the difficulty in getting music online. New companies start every day – there are 25,000 digital music services – yet only 10% of revenues are from digital sales. In 2010 digital music will take off and revenue will account for more than 25%.”

This, he says, puts IIP in a terrific position. “We will free up record companies to concentrate on finding and signing new talent and leave us to convert formats and independently manage sales and distribution. Look at Radiohead, who have just released their new album online themselves. They can’t tour 365 days a year – they need to get paid and we can handle licensing and royalty collections.”

Tjho says Fuga can earn money by taking between 2% and 10.5% of revenues from smaller labels and charging a licence fee for larger ones. “We can be the global standard for digital content.”

Although he could still pass for a student, Tjho has racked up more than 14 years of experience in technology, interactive and entertainment industries – with varying levels of success. In 2001 he launched mobile gaming company Overloaded Pocket Media, which was acquired by Dutch entertainment powerhouse Endemol two years later. Tjho ran Overloaded for two more years, trying to drive up business and develop product, but he laments that the market was not ready for mobile games.

The transition from “buying bespoke suits and flying business class” to starting out and hustling all over again has been good for him, he reckons. “That is why I have waited five years, working with the record industry, before I launched Fuga. There is no way I wanted to be too early again.”

Now is crunch time for IIP he acknowledges, as the company ramps up from being R&D focused and attempts to become marketing and sales focused. Tjho forecasts that in 10 months IIP will be able to convert all labels into paying customers. “In the third quarter of 2008 we will be cash neutral. This is a big challenge but it is doable. In future we will be able to expand the system to handle videos, then games.”

While passionate about Fuga: “We want to be an independent link between the intellectual property owner and the distributor,” Tjho is also committed to his other business interests. He manages two of Holland’s biggest musical and TV artists, Ruben Nicolai and Sophie Hilbrand – who are both long-time friends – and is hatching plans for a members’ club for the creative industries in central Amsterdam. He would like this to be in partnership with Nick Jones, the British entrepreneur behind the Soho House private club empire, who is planning a European network. “Amsterdam would be perfect,” he believes. “I have the right property. There are so many creative people here and everyone knows each other anyway.”

Tjho says his business and life philosophy are the same: “We have to add value onto whatever we do. That’s the essence of capitalism and too many people have lost that. Surely that’s why people go into the music business?”