THE record industry has found itself a new publicist 鈥� one who doesn鈥檛 get paid. So what mug would do this? Well, how about you?
The idea is to get the public to spread the word on new music releases and encourage others to buy. Consumers will first be seduced by CDs or DVDs that are given away free with newspapers and magazines. The discs contain a clutch of music and movie files that you can listen to and watch, as well as email to your friends. Who will then pass them on to their friends, and so on.
To play the files on a computer, you have to register your personal details online, making you a sitting target for future sales pitches. After registering, the files can be played either a set number of times or until a certain date.
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鈥淲e call it viral distribution because of the knock-on effect,鈥� says Ian Spero of London-based marketing company Spero Communications, who is working with IBM on the 鈥淏igTime鈥� system, which is set to go live late next month. BigTime encrypts the music and video files so they can only be played once the user has registered and been given a decryption key. The key then monitors how many times the file is played.
The idea has already been tested in Britain. At the end of June, The Sunday Times newspaper carried 1.7 million free CDs containing audio and video clips of rock band Oasis鈥檚 upcoming album, Heathen Chemistry.
Some tracks played as normal on ordinary CD players, but others would only work on a PC after online registration, which took up to 10 minutes. Each clip could be played up to four times. Users were then offered the chance to buy the full version of the CD by mail order from music store HMV.
According to a spokesman for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, viral distribution is 鈥渁n interesting way to promote new albums鈥�. But not everyone agrees. 鈥淪o the customer pays for the record company鈥檚 distribution as well as doing the record company鈥檚 marketing? Nice work if you can get it,鈥� says Ian Brown of the Foundation for Information Policy Research.
It won鈥檛 be long before others get in on the action too, adds Brown. 鈥淭he industry has been dreaming of this kind of super-distribution for years,鈥� he says. You can be sure that once Microsoft sees this, something that does the same job will come free with Windows, he says.
A spokeswoman for The Sunday Times would not reveal how many people had registered online after receiving the discs or comment on how people鈥檚 personal data will be used. This, along with future plans for the system, are confidential, she says. The system will be launched internationally in September.