Sharman Networks teamed up with Altnet Inc and Cornerband to launch the Kazaa -Emerging Artists Channel", which will offer unsigned artists the opportunity to promote their music on the Kazaa network of around 60 million users.
The service will cost musicians a one time set up fee of US$49.95 plus US$9.99 per track to have their songs promoted in two ways. The songs are given preferred placement in Kazaa search results with a gold coloured icon using Altnet's TopSearch service. The songs will also be featured in the Emerging Artist Channel.
Altnet will digitally secure each song to allow artists to control the distribution of their works. This can be set as a paid download, try-before-you-buy or free sample, depending on the goal of the artist. Each time a 'Gold Icon' file is shared via Kazaa, each new user must agree to the license before gaining access to its content.
Brett Winterford, lead singer of Sydney four-piece band Peregrine, told ZDNet Australia he considered the price a bit steep considering there are Web sites that will allow you to post your music for free, and it depended on the quality of the service offered as to whether it would be useful.
"It's a reasonable idea if they're confident they'll get the hits and get the people downloading the songs," said Winterford. He said people would find content if there was a demand for it, and it was a "tough call" as to whether Kazaa's channel would take off. "I think the means to [distribute music electronically] is already available. This is just another channel."
According to Scott Beck, CEO of Cornerband, "The concept behind the Emerging Artists Channel is to provide a low cost stepping-stone for growth into the mainstream market - it's not much to pay for such great exposure. Once a band becomes more established, they can move to more prominent and higher trafficked promotional areas within Kazaa."
Other services that offer paid music downloads, such as Telstra's offering, make deals with record companies for their content. However, this excludes emerging and unsigned artists from the service, and is unlikely to appeal to people who have a problem with record companies.
