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Watch an Ad, Get an MP3 Download: Genius or Goof?

Free All Music is innovative, but still might not work

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 2, 2009 2:34 PM CDT

(Newser) – A new site thinks it has the answer the music industry’s woes: Free All Music will allow users to download a high-quality mp3 with no copy restrictions in exchange for watching a 15-second video ad of their choosing. The site then takes a user’s handle and uses it to produce another ad, for third-party sites, that announces what the user downloaded and who sponsored it. Users may download 15 mp3s a month—and perhaps more if Free All Music eventually sells more sponsorships.

The innovative ad scheme allows the site to sell multiple ads per download, but the business model still might not be sustainable, writes Michael Masnick for Techdirt. The site is modeling consumption patterns on iTunes, but iTunes pays record labels approximately 67 per download. Even with spinoff ads, it’s unlikely that FAM can wring 67¢ out of each download—so it will have to force record labels to settle for less.

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FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2009 file photo, The Beatles re-mastered albums are seen in a downtown record store in Vancouver.
FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2009 file photo, The Beatles re-mastered albums are seen in a downtown record store in Vancouver.   (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 6 comments
diltsduo
Oct 3, 2009 6:23 AM CDT
I think this is a fabulous idea as well. I want to support my artists, especially the true ones like Taylor Swift (insert laugh here).
BeatBlaster
Oct 3, 2009 5:32 AM CDT
My point exactly! I do enjoy giving the artists I enjoy their monetary due but quite frankly I really wish they would follow Radiohead and NIN's example - give it away for free and setup a means to accept donations and then use clever marketing to get people to pay anyway. This model really does work. People really do want to do the right thing and a lot of people on this Earth really do do the right thing.
cochiserocks
Oct 2, 2009 8:45 AM CDT
I'll listen to a track online for free to check it out - but if I like the music or the album and I want to support the band, I'll go out and pay for it either as a CD or online - give it as a gift, keep it, whatever - but the point it the band get some revenue to make another album - unless they're U2 or Metallica or someone big, and then it gets a bit sketchy :-) Point is, it's my choice. If the music sucks - why should I pay to find out I've been sold mutton dressed as lamb - it's a con. But if it is something I want my money to support - I'll throw it down - same way I would for a cab or pizza. There's a restaurant in London which ask you to pay what you think the meal was worth - after you've eaten it. And the genius is - I heard it was making money despite the recession. The world is changing, slowly, but you can see things about which weren't there 10 years ago - and certainly not getting enough support to survive. The revolution will not be televised :-)

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