Ads In Your MP3s?

Digital Software Inc., a privately held digital media
promotions company, today touted a system it has created,
which embeds advertising into MP3 files as a possible solution to the
record industry's current online music-distribution woes.

However, while the system may satisfy artists and record
labels, it remains to be seen how consumers will take to the company's
Digital Payload's technology.

In an interview with Newsbytes, John Brewer, co-founder of Digital
Payloads, said that his company embeds a record label's or
advertiser's promotions and links, called "payloads," into licensed
MP3 music files. These promotions are displayed while the music
files play.

Brewer explained that Digital Payload supplies the technology for
embedding the promotions, which can comprise either audio or video, or
a combination of the two. However, Digital Payload is not an online music
site. After MP3 files are embedded with Payload they are made available
to various Web sites, where they can be downloaded for free by
music fans.

The company says its patent-pending technology provides artists
and record labels with revenue and other promotional benefits. Brewer
said the technology would be especially beneficial for a record label
that wants to promote a new song, or its back catalogue of music. It
would also be beneficial to an advertiser that wishes to tie in an
advertising campaign with a particular music artist or song.

According to Brewer, Digital Payload is in the process of arranging
for its own catalogue of licensed music. Or the company could make
arrangements on behalf of advertisers to license certain content,
he said.

Digital Software says its technology works with popular MP3
players, including WinAmp, MusicMatch, Sonique and Windows Media
Player.

The company said, "Other attempts to protect the revenue stream for
artists and record labels are unwieldy and fail to exploit the free
media phenomenon as it exists today." Digital Payload also
acknowledges that, "As long as media producers create 'hard media'
such as CDs, people will continue to find ways to capture and share
the files for use on a wide variety of players and mobile devices.

Asked why a music fan would want to download an MP3 file
containing advertising when copies of the music can already be
downloaded without the promotional content, Brewer said he "couldn't
argue," that it can be done. However, he said, payload-embedded MP3
files are "artist endorsed," and that if the listener is a true fan and
wants
to support the artist, than that listener will choose a licensed recording.

Brewer also said that Digital Payload conducted its own survey of the
quality of music available for free from sites such as Napster's and
Gnutella's. Seventy-five percent of the music available on these
sites is of very poor quality he said, whereas payload-embedded
tracks - since they are authorized and in many cases promoted by the
record labels - would be of the highest quality possible.

However, analyst Eric Scheirer of Forrester Research told Newsbytes
that Payload is similar to what several companies are trying to do in
order to
offset the cost of free MP3 music files. He said that unless the
advertising
content that is added to the files is really compelling, he does not
believe
that the concept will be very popular to consumers.

Brewer said that the formal announcement of Digital Payload's Availability will be made Monday. There are no examples of this technology available online as yet, he said.

More information from Digital Payloads Inc. is available at
http://www.digitalpayloads.com.

Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com