Music Industry Minute: Sponsored Download Widget

The Vacation (Los Angeles, CA) I'm all for ingenious ways to sell and promote music online. Which is why when I received an e-mail stating that The Vacation had teamed up with Playboy to give away their new album for free my ears more than perked up. Last Thursday The Vacation released a widget in partnership with Playboy that allows users to download their new full length album Get Used for FREE. This widget is powered by TrueAnthem, but there are a lot of companies launching based on a similar premise. My favorite to pop up thus far is TopSpin. Check out what they've done with Jubilee. There is also of course RCRD LBL which provides an online destination for free downloads but they haven't quite grasped the in-widget download quite yet. So let's focus on the general idea - The "Sponsored Download Widget." The upside to marketers - Well first off, YOU GET PAID by your sponsor (Ca-Ching!). In some cases they also allow you to collect user information, up sell ringtones, tickets to shows, and pretty much whatever you want. For the user all you're asked is to sign up for a service and give up your first name, e-mail address, and birth date to receive your free MP3s. Now back to The Vacation free download. The downsides? You can only download the tracks individually - which is a pain in the neck but hey FREE doesn't necessarily mean EASY. There are also audio messages from the band throughout the album (Poor Steve) mentioning that Playboy is the sponsor. EXAMPLE: [MP3] The Vacation - Shit Talker As for quality - 128 kbps isnt exactly stereo sound but for my MP3 player it'll do. I know it's free but the fact that I have to go in and use Garageband to cut out the message before I can use it in a podcast or DJ set just irritates me. Most users won't even know how do that. I also like 320 kbps or higher for my DJ sets and would rather not spend 10 minutes trying to download when I have cable internet. I guess that's what their counting on when the record is available in stores and for digital download on traditional services later on. If I want virgin tracks at a high bit rate I should expect to pay a premium. Beggars can't be choosers right? Well for a band like RADIOHEAD that would be true, but this is a developing act! If you want to get the music out there you got to make it as easy as possible to access! I love the idea of the sponsored download widget as a way for bands to offer up their records for free while still making a bit of money - especially if the sponsor makes sense. If you've ever seen The Vacation live you would know that PLAYBOY is damn near the perfect sponsor for them. However, I think adding audio messages before the music plays and keeping the quality of the MP3 low is unnecessary and will ultimately lead to dissatisfaction among end users - You know those pesky individuals usually referred to as THE FANS. Get Used is destined to become a total guilty pleasure. The album is the epitome of the Sunset Strip and is actually fabulously trashy, but the audio messages leave it coming off as cheap and commercial - which actually when I think about is kind of genius. This whole campaign is deliciously overdone. For The Vacation - i works. I'd love to see the same campaign done with Beirut - Somehow I don't think it would have the same effect. All in all I think the technolgy is progressive and could be one of several key solutions to the ever changing role of music in the digital space. There will always be those who buy music from iTUNES, or buy CDs in stores. Hell, there are people out there who still buy strictly on cassette. This is a great solution for the right kind of band and could be adapted further in the future. What do you guys think of the sponsored download widget? Check it out below!