Universal Music Group To Offer Free Downloads

A search didn't reveal anything so I'll post it here. I have no idea if spiralfrog.com is a pay site.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060830/en_music_eo/19890
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Universal Lets Killers, U2 Go Free
By Natalie Finn

Take that, iTunes.

Joining the fight against Apple's dominance over the portable music market, Universal Music Group announced Tuesday that it will be making its entire catalog available for free downloading via the ad-supported Website SpiralFrog.com.


Of course, if it sounds too good to be perfect, it probably is. You'll be able to download music from artists ranging from U2 and the Killers to Eminem and Elton John and play the tunes on Microsoft Windows Media Player-compatible devices, but you can't burn the tracks onto CDs. (Which, in turn, prevents you from uploading said CDs into iTunes and playing them back on an iPod.)


Once users have registered at SpiralFrog, however, they can download an unlimited number of songs and music videos from the world's largest record company and all they have to do is watch a 90-second commercial while waiting for Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" to download and then re-register once a month to be able to access their libraries.


Or you have to sit through a 120-second ad as you twiddle your thumbs waiting for The Killers' "Mr. Brightside" video to load onto your hard drive.


"The currency we're using is time," SpiralFrog chairman Joe Mohen told the Los Angeles Times. "Young people are already downloading free songs illegally on peer-to-peer networks. We believe that advertisers will pay to show those consumers ads, and that those payments will rival what music companies get from iTunes or other online retailers."


New York-based SpiralFrog, which will split ad revenue with Universal, said that it hopes to get the new venture off the ground in the U.S. and Canada by the end of this year. Deals with other major music labels are also reportedly in the works. Both EMI and Warner Music Group told Reuters they were in talks with SpiralFrog, which, according to a source close to the deal, paid Universal right up front to gain access to the companies' songbook.


"The challenge is going to be whether there's enough advertising revenue to drive sales volume," Gartner Research analyst Mike McGuire told Reuters. "And as we know in online music, if you don't have all four of the majors [Sony BMG being the one not yet mentioned] plus a significant number of independents then you don't have a thriving store."


Also looking to take a bite out of Apple and its successful 99-cents-apiece formula, Napster, the illegal file-sharing site-turned subscription-based service, started in May letting users play a track up to five times for free in the hope that happy listeners will be more inclined to pony up the monthly fee for unlimited downloading. The former free-for-all site Kazaa is also expected to get into the legitimate downloading game soon, as well.


The Universal-SpiralFrog deal, however, marks one of the few times that so much music (millions of songs from thousands of artists) will be available for free downloading in one place, along with the option to play the tunes on a portable player.


"Offering young consumers an easy-to-use alternative to pirated music sites will be compelling," SpiralFrog CEO Robin Kent said in a statement. "SpiralFrog will offer those consumers a better experience and environment than they can get from any pirate site."