The title is not meant to be oxymoronic if you are
wondering.
From
CNN:
The next user to download a song from a peer-to-peer file-sharing
service like LimeWire could be in for a surprise. Not a recording
industry lawsuit, but a pop-up asking him to look at an ad--either
text or video--in return for a free and legal copy of the
music.
For that, the record labels, which have been trying to monetize
illegally traded music for years, can thank a three-year-old
company called Intent MediaWorks. Intent has figured out how to
embed pop-ups in music and video files unobtrusively, and the
company claims that 60 percent of users are willing to endure the
resulting pop-up ads.
"Consumers don't want to rip people off," says Les Ottolenghi,
president and co-founder of Atlanta-based Intent. "They just want
to get music as easily as possible."
Intent is seeding the peer-to-peer networks at a rapid clip. In
February its digital media files were downloaded 1.7 million times.
By December it expects that number to grow to at least 10
million.
At a cost to the advertiser of $5.80 per 1,000 ad views for text
and $30 or more for video, that's a healthy revenue stream. Intent
shares the money with artists and their labels, which can also
choose to serve up their own promotions within the pop-ups.
Intent's customers already include Nettwerk Music Group, which
publishes Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, and Sarah McLachlan, and
Chuck D's Slamjamz Records; the company also expects to sign at
least one of the Big Four music firms by mid-2007. Advertisers thus
far have included Audi and Coca-Cola (Charts, Fortune 500).
Since Intent follows users no matter what the latest popular
file-sharing service is--FrostWire and Shareaza,
anyone?--advertisers will pay to reach the eyeballs.
The peer-to-peer audience is made up of young, affluent, and
technically savvy consumers, notes Mitchell Reichgut, a principal
at ad firm Jun Group. "That's the kind of person you want to
reach," he says. "If you do something on peer-to-peer and do it
well, it's marketing on steroids."
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Hmm... popups in exchange for lawsuits, anybody game for that?
