we7 - Free music downloads, ad-supported free music

Posted on January 23, 2008 at 6:25 am

Earlier I had written an article on how you can download DRM-Free MP3s online for a very small price (and thereby listen to them legally) using several services like MP3Fiesta, Amazon, etc, etc. You can also download songs from iTunes and only have to pay $0.99 for a song!

Of course, the problem with iTunes is that you can only play your MP3s in iTunes or on one of their MP3 players, like the iPod, iTouch, etc. MP3Fiesta, Amazon and many other companies started selling those MP3’s without the restrictions, which is at least one step forward. Even with cheap MP3s, many people still download music illegally and that raises big questions for the recording industry.

we7

Now a new service called WE7 is going even further by allowing you to download MP3 songs for free with the catch that each song will have a short (10 second) audio ad before the music starts.

The service is still very new and there are not that many different artists to listen to (it’s a UK site) except for Natalie Williams, Motorhead, The Kinks, Bob Marley, Dave Matthews, etc. Of course, none of the new release music is on the site, it’s mostly older stuff. However, if they are able to gain a significant following and it seems they have with their 1 millionth download already), then you will soon be seeing some free music downloads from many other artists.

When you sign up, you have to fill out some demographic data so that they can appropriately target the ads to you specifically. This means they want to know the obvious things like gender, age, and exactly where you live.

The cool thing about the service is that four weeks after downloading the song, the 10 second ad at the front of the song is removed. This makes it truly a free download!

Of course, whether this becomes popular or not depends on how many major labels and artists they can sign up. Most record companies are only now starting to allow DRM-Free downloads, so this is quite a bit of time away. However, with most people not minding listening to several minutes of ads on the radio, they may not be too revolted by the idea of a 10 second ad before each song.

For artists, it’s great because it’s an extra revenue source for them. The advertisers pay WE7 for the 10 second ad spots and then WE7 pays a portion to the artists who sign up to give their music away.

we7 music downloads

Overall, the concept behind WE7 is interesting and one that I hope catches on! Make sure to check back to WE7 a few weeks and months down the line to see if their collection of tracks has increased. Right now it’s only a couple of thousand, so you probably won’t find your favorite stuff. There is a search feature at the top, so try that to quickly find an artist or song.

Also, if you don’t like the ads in your music, you are given the option to download a ad-free version of the song, but you have to pay the normal price.

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  1. » 10 More Tools to Search, Listen & Download Mp3 Songs Says:

    [...] 4. WE7 - It allows you to download MP3 songs for free with the catch that each song will have a short (10 second) audio ad before the music starts. Four weeks after downloading the song, the 10 second ad at the front of the song is removed. This makes it truly a free download. via [...]

    January 28th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
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