No such thing as a free download Issue #33

Warner to offer free music ... sort of

By Amy Westervelt
Published: September 1st, 2007 | 12:00am

After a slew of copyright lawsuits and several long, public battles to keep consumers from listening to music they haven’t paid for, Warner Music Group is singing a slightly different tune. In July 2007, Lala.com began offering free listens of songs from Warner artists like the Flaming Lips, Fleetwood Mac, and Tori Amos. Consumers can listen to a streaming audio file, but can’t download and save the file for future listens without purchasing the album. Warner hopes the tease will lure in buyers and increase its digital music sales. But the label wins Lala.com either way; though listens are free to consumers, is paying royalties to Warner each time a user streams the label’s music. The Web site describes it as a subscription service, similar to Rhapsody, except that the site pays the fee instead of the user.

The jury’s still out on whether Warner’s plan will work — the label has already pissed off most digital music fans with its constant crackdown on downloads and it’s anyone’s guess as to whether people will go from a free listen to a purchase. If listeners take the bait, other labels are likely to make similar arrangements.