I feel like I'm at Woodstock and they've just declared it a free concert! Universal Music announced that later this year it's going to make all of its sizable music collection available for free on an ad-supported web site.
The deal allows SpiralFrog, an online destination, to sell ads on the new music site and split the ad revenues with Universal. Listeners will register at the site, watch the ads, and then download the free music. It's been reported that the tracks can't be burned to a CD, but users will be able to transfer music to Windows-based portable media players. The iPod will not be supported.
The idea of ad-subsidized music, while novel to the music world, is already a big part of other online media, like online magazines. For example, Salon gives you the choice of watching a word from your sponsor or paying a fee.
So if you had a choice between spending 99 cents for a song or and watching an ad before downloading your free song, which poison would you pick? I'm thinking that the operative word is choice. Sometimes I've got the time and not the money; other times it's the reverse. I can see using the Universal service, but keeping my iTunes paid service well fed, too.
http://tech.yahoo.com/blog/raskin/1478;_ylt=AsCR8brykCu9E97QfaC.H_oSLpA5
