Earlier this year I did I piece for Reach For The Sky on music downloads. In this piece I discussed how the world of music downloads was changing and expanding. Illegal downloading was increasing and legal download sites were having to come up with new ideas to tackle the problem and ensure they maintain their profits.
Recently Vivendi Universal has moved to tackle the issue, through a new site they have set up called Spiralfrog. The idea is that music will be downloaded for free, but the company will make its money from advertising on their site.
Recent research done by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents the recording industry worldwide, estimates that for every legal download there are 40 illegal downloads. It's not surprising that Vivendi Universal have needed to discover a new innovative way to offer music to the consumer, as efforts to shut down illegal sites seem to be failing.
However is this too good to be true? Is there a possibility with this advertising on the site that people will need to sign up to junk e-mails lists and will have to navigate their way through heaps of online advertising in order to complete their downloads? If so, it will be interesting to see whether this is a price most are willing to pay in order to download their music legally for free.
As a performer and someone who is extremely interested in music I'll be keeping an eye on how things work out for the Spiralfrog site. Will the public go for legal downloads and possible junk mail or will they stick to their illegal downloading ways? It is definitely a case of watch this webspace!
Spiralfrog launches in December and you can check it out at http://www.spiralfrog.com/
About the team
This feature was written by Aoife White and edited by Gavin Leung. It was published on the Reach for the Sky website.
