Peter Gabriel, one of the founders of one of the early digital music aggregators, OD2, has announced he is involved in a new ad funded digital music venture. The new service, We7, will make free unprotected MP3s available, but with a ten second ad attached to the front of the song file. But the ad will only play a set number of times, after that the user will have the track without advertising. The new service will also sell DRM free music without adverts.
Commenting on the new service, Gabriel told reporters: "We7 provides artists - even across the more experimental or minority genres - with the opportunity to build a new source of income from their music. Ad-funded downloads are the way to provide free music to the consumer without depriving musicians of their livelihood."
The new service, which also involves tech entrepreneur Steve Purdham and investor John Taysom, is yet to sign up any of the major record companies, meaning at launch the service will only sell independently signed music.