Peter Gabriel Launches Free Music Download Service – From “In Your Eyes” To “In Your Ears”

We’re not exactly sure this is a good idea, but neither was leaving Genesis. See what happens is, you go to We7 and download all the free songs you want, but they have commercials embedded into them. This takes selling out to the max.

Not only that, but it feels kind of like Minority Report where the citizens of the future were constantly marketed to via their retinas – except with We7, they are marketed to aurally. The site tells artists that, “your fans get free – you get paid.” It sounds like a good deal for the struggling indie artist and struggling music fan, both of whom haven’t much to spend and want a deal on entertainment.

Peter Gabriel is a founding investor in the company, run out of Oxford. The site’s “Tastemaker” function launches next month and will allow an online community of artists, band members, and fans to decide whether songs are good enough to be published.

As for the ads embedded into the music, they will only last about a month before disappearing. Then you can enjoy your downloads commercial-free. The ads are also targeted to your demographic. Welcome to the borg!

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