Digital Music Forum: How to offer digital tunes without going broke

At the Digital Music Forum in New York City today, speakers talked up a couple of alternative approaches for offering freely downloadable digital tunes without going broke.

As Microsoft's Zunes, Apple's iTunes, and other online music distributors are quickly finding out, a lot of people just don't want to pay for song downloads to their PCs.

How can distributors cope? A new site called RCRD LBL, for example, now supplies only "ad supported free music," said Peter Rojas, CEO and co-founder.

TouchTunes Music's downloads, on the other hand, are targeted not at home PCs but at restaurants and other places where people listen to music while they're getting together.

"TouchTunes is unique in that people never seem to mind putting money into a jukebox," noted Celi Hirschman, moderator of a panel session at the Digital Music Forum.

But TouchTunes' online digital jukebox will soon be joined by a TouchTunes social networking site. "This will connect you more closely with the place you're going to and the people there," elaborated Vicki Saunders, TouchTunes' director of music marketing and promotions.

RCRD LBL already has five major corporate ad sponsors, including BMW, Nikon, and Puma, for instance.

A few months ago, the Web site only provided music from a handful of musical artists. But by now, RCRD LBL has worked with 250 of them, according to Rojas.

The musicians on RCRD LBL have different goals. Some are just looking for visibility, whereas others want to earn revenue.

In contrast to major record labels, RCRD LBL gives artists a choice of short- or long-term deals.

"The 'indentured servant' model is a little out-of-date. It's not really relevant these days," Rojas remarked.

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