Magnatune gives away lossy music as advertisements

September 4, 2006

RTV71 used our news submit to tell us about this interesting concept being tried over at
Magnatune. It's amazing that people will even buy 128 kbps music that has
digital management controls, but they do. Apple's iTunes is proof enough of
that. It's also amazing that people are being sued for sharing lossy files
over the Internet, but the RIAA has no problem with it, nor the legal system.
Now, we have an outfit, that at least for a while, is giving
away 128 kbps music, even though it does contain DRM. A nice compromise I guess.

Magnatune has the right idea and we love their motto: "We Are Not Evil". They are a real record label but they give away 128 kbps mp3s of all their artist"s songs for free. If you like what you hear you can purchase higher quality DRM-free FLAC, Mp3, OGG, AAC, WAV versions at a price you set!

If you don"t, you can always keep, share
or delete your legally downloaded 128 kbps mp3, your choice. They are
sharing revenues 50/50 with their signed artists and they allow consumers
to share their purchased songs with 3 friends. What sets them apart from
other "free music" web sites is that they actually sign artists that are
able to produce high quality music and are serious about their work
(rather than just being a random mp3 hosting site). Also, artists keep all
of their work"s rights.

I like the 50/50 revenue sharing as well. We have to
wonder if this is a viable business model over the long term. Maybe there are
other ways to stop charging for these lossy DRM'ed products, they are certainly
not worth anything. Let's hope this catches on!

Source: OS News