Andre Yoskowitz
28 Apr 2008 18:34
WE7.com has launched, and with it comes 500,000 free, ad-supported tracks from Sony BMG and a variety of independent artists.
As the company says, the site is a way for consumers to get the tracks they want "legally, safely and in a format they want".
We7's business model allows fans to listen to the music they want, completely free, but each tracks has a "short audio advert onto the front of each track."
The site also says that the artists and record labels will be paid every time the song is played on the site and that they will be paid from the revenue generated from advertising. We7 hopes the model will curb piracy and provide "a win-win situation for music fans and artists alike."
Additionally, 30,000 of the tracks can be downloaded and listened to later on portable media devices for free "with the attached advert, which can be removed after a set number of listens, or an amount of elapsed time."