UK: MUSIC INDUSTRY TO OFFER WEEK OF FREE DOWNLOADS IN ATTEMPT TO COUNTER INTERNET GREY MARKET.

Record ID: 648148

  • Title: UK: MUSIC INDUSTRY TO OFFER WEEK OF FREE DOWNLOADS IN ATTEMPT TO COUNTER INTERNET GREY MARKET.
  • Date: 4th October 2002
  • Summary: (EU) LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 3, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF DIGITALDOWNLOADDAY.COM WEBSITE 2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ED AVERDIECK, MARKETING DIRECTOR FOR OD2 COMPANY, SAYING:"What we are doing is allowing people to download music - there's over 100,000 tracks and 6,000 artist and we are allowing people to do this in a legal way, it's backed by the music industry, labels and retailers." (EU) LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 3. VARIOUS OF HMV MUSIC STORE; CUSTOMERS LOOKING THROUGH CDS; CUSTOMER LISTENING TO CD THROUGH EARPHONES; SIGN READING: PLEASE PAY HERE (EU) LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 3, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ED AVERDIECK, MARKETING DIRECTOR FOR OD2 COMPANY, SAYING: "In America sales are down in the first half of this year something like ten percent, in some markets in Europe they are down between ten and fifteen percent. In the UK, we've had a phenomenally successful record industry, but undoubtedly the record public in the UK love downloading tracks so it could be a lot more successful." 5. VARIOUS OF DIGITALDOWNLOADDAY.COM WEBSITE Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 19th October 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City:
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVA7IMFCDE2YQ0NO9856APTD1MWV
  • Story Text: In a fight to win back fans from the "grey zone" of
    online song-swapping services, the music industry is borrowing
    a trick from its nemeses: free music downloads.



    For one week only and starting from Thursday (October
    3), music fans across Europe will be able to download, stream
    or burn onto their hard drives a selection of tracks from
    6,000 artists including ColdPlay, Dido and Elvis Presley.

    It is part of a marketing ploy called "Digital Download
    Day" devised by British firm OD2, a technology company
    specialising in digital music distribution and co-founded by
    recording artist Peter Gabriel.

    Backed by record labels and music retailers, a host of
    subscription download services have been hatched over the past
    year to tap into the consumer craze of downloading music. OD2
    hopes its marketing plan will draw consumers away from illegal
    file-swapping sites.

    "What we are doing is allowing people to download music-
    there's over 100,000 tracks and 6,000 artist and we are
    allowing people to do this in a legal way, it's backed by the
    music industry, labels and retailers," said Ed Averdieck,
    Marketing director of 0D2.

    But the pay-for services are still no match for free
    download services such as Kazaa and Morpheus MusicCity, which
    claim tens of millions of users. The major labels blame the
    availability of free music downloads for a drop in CD sales.

    The free download, or peer-to-peer services, brand
    themselves as "file sharing" websites and do not actively
    condone downloading copyrighted files such as music or video.

    But the music industry brands them as pirates, and has
    launched a number of high-profile lawsuits against them,
    recently claiming the scalp of now-defunct peer-to-peer
    pioneer Napster.

    In the past music lovers bought their favourite artists'
    albums and singles in shops and many still do, especially as
    most stores now provide a service which allows people to try
    before they buy.

    But downloading music from file-sharing websites means
    music comes free. It is illegal, but more than 3.2 billion
    tracks are pirated every month. Various industry research
    reports have shown that the number of songs downloaded each
    month has matched, or even surpassed, the number of songs
    purchased. The impact on record sales has been significant.

    "In America sales are down in the first half of this year
    something like ten percent, in some markets in europe they are
    down between ten and fifteen percent. In the UK, we've had a
    phenomenally successful record industry, but undoubtedly the
    record public in the UK love downloading tracks so it could be
    a lot more successful," said Ed Averdieck.

    OD2 has secured the digital streaming rights to 100,000
    songs from a variety of major and independent music labels.

    The company has enlisted some 50 recording labels,
    including EMI Group and Bertelsmann's BMG, plus its retail
    and Internet partners to allow consumers to sample the
    subscription services as part of the marketing initiative.

    The programme will be open only to European Web users.

    Consumers who register on one of the six participating
    sites, including www.msn.co.uk, www.tiscali.co.uk and
    www.hmv.co.uk, will get five pounds ($7.90) worth of digital
    music to sample or burn.

    Streaming a track for a single listen costs one penny,
    downloading a track onto a computer hard drive would cost 10
    pence and burning a track onto a CD will cost one pound, the
    company said.

    Anyone interested needs to register within one week to get
    five pounds worth of free music for a month and thereafter pay
    for it.

    ik/jrc

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