Prompt's TechBlog
Peter Gabriel's We7 launches ad-supported music downloads
30 April 2007
Posted by Sean McManus
Peter Gabriel has launched a new initiative to bring free music to the masses. The catch? You have to tolerate 10 second adverts at the start of each track.
His venture We7 is not the first to attempt this. Back in 1999, AMP3.com tried the same thing (some info here), splitting the ad revenue with artists. That lasted three years but never really caught on. Perhaps it was because all the content was from unknown amateurs and Napster was bringing free (albeit illegal) music to the masses at the time.
We7 is touting for bands and offering to split the ad money half and half. The site aims to overcome the problem of how to promote a vast catalogue of unknown content by building a community of tastemakers to review songs. If Gabriel can convince some record labels (most likely indies) to join in, it might prove more successful than AMP3 was.
The tracks will be available without DRM and you're allowed to share them, so there will have to be some fudging of the ad prices to estimate how many times an advert is heard. The ads are targeted demographically to the original downloader as well, which would make them less effective for people who receive pass-on songs.
It sounds like a nice idea, and it could be a guilt-free way to sample new music. But it's up against stiff competition: MP3 blogs still circulate unauthorised MP3s to evangelise their favourite signed acts and sites like MySpace provide amateur downloads without any adverts.
Perhaps this is more of a technology showcase: they're talking up the ability to embed targeted adverts for each listener into the MP3 as it is downloaded without incurring delay. The Register speculates that We7 could be swallowed up by a bigger music site with the muscle to negotiate with major labels, which would enable us to sample major label tracks with embedded adverts. The label gets paid from adverts, the artists gets paid too and we'll most likely end up buying the good tracks to remove the jingles too.
Footnote: It's interesting that Amp3.com was deleted from Wikipedia because it wasn't deemed notable. Perhaps the original entry didn't make clear how it differed from other labels (the use of adverts), but it does go to show how long it can take for some ideas or businesses to become significant in the grand scheme of things.
His venture We7 is not the first to attempt this. Back in 1999, AMP3.com tried the same thing (some info here), splitting the ad revenue with artists. That lasted three years but never really caught on. Perhaps it was because all the content was from unknown amateurs and Napster was bringing free (albeit illegal) music to the masses at the time.
We7 is touting for bands and offering to split the ad money half and half. The site aims to overcome the problem of how to promote a vast catalogue of unknown content by building a community of tastemakers to review songs. If Gabriel can convince some record labels (most likely indies) to join in, it might prove more successful than AMP3 was.
The tracks will be available without DRM and you're allowed to share them, so there will have to be some fudging of the ad prices to estimate how many times an advert is heard. The ads are targeted demographically to the original downloader as well, which would make them less effective for people who receive pass-on songs.
It sounds like a nice idea, and it could be a guilt-free way to sample new music. But it's up against stiff competition: MP3 blogs still circulate unauthorised MP3s to evangelise their favourite signed acts and sites like MySpace provide amateur downloads without any adverts.
Perhaps this is more of a technology showcase: they're talking up the ability to embed targeted adverts for each listener into the MP3 as it is downloaded without incurring delay. The Register speculates that We7 could be swallowed up by a bigger music site with the muscle to negotiate with major labels, which would enable us to sample major label tracks with embedded adverts. The label gets paid from adverts, the artists gets paid too and we'll most likely end up buying the good tracks to remove the jingles too.
Footnote: It's interesting that Amp3.com was deleted from Wikipedia because it wasn't deemed notable. Perhaps the original entry didn't make clear how it differed from other labels (the use of adverts), but it does go to show how long it can take for some ideas or businesses to become significant in the grand scheme of things.
# posted by Sean McManus at 4:45 PM 
Comments:
Advertising supported music will work because the basic value proposition of free content in exchange for exposure to ads is proven. The We7 model, however, will not work. No one will put up with an ad before every track, especially an ad that is static. There are other models that will work. Check out the Ad-Supported Music Central blog:
http://ad-supported-music.blogspot.com/
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