SAN DIEGO – A milestone has been reached for the innovative
program that allows musicians and labels to generate revenue while distributing music for free on the Internet. MP3.com, Inc. announced it has made more than $10 million available to digital artists through its Payback for Playback program
since November 1999. The program, which distributes money
to eligible artists who post music on the site, has been extended for another $1 million for January.
“The $10 million milestone proves that there are excellent revenue opportunities available to artists and labels in the digital music space,” said Michael Robertson, chairman and chief executive officer of MP3.com. “There are a number
of artists on our site who have utilized our free marketing and promotional tools to generate thousands of dollars while distributing their music for free to consumers all over the world.”
One digital artist who has benefited from the Payback for Playback program is DoubleN (www.mp3.com/doublen), an electronic trance duo from Sweden. DoubleN has employed the promotional tools available on the site to generate more than $18,000 in revenue since joining the MP3.com community of digital artists.
“It’s great to see our kind of electronic music right up there with the big commercial acts,” said Niclas Kings of DoubleN. “We’ve been able to meet and work with some
awesome artists and producers. The best advice we can give to other artists is find your own sound and do it in style. If you want people to return to your site, you have to sound original.”
All eligible content owners who post music and audio files on MP3.com have the opportunity to participate in the Payback for Playback promotion. Musicians interested in joining MP3.com’s community of artists can register to post music for free at
www.mp3.com/newartist.
