Could it be a music lover’s dream? Try free downloads with no legal hassles, no viruses, no spyware and no worries. That is what the folks at Spiral Frog want to convince you of. Their website is set to launch this month.

Spiral Frog will be a Manhattan-based Web site (digital entertainment destination) that runs on advertising. Their marketing approach is to point out the problem with what you currently have (something like LimeWire), and then show how their product (Spiral Frog) will fix the problem.

CEO Robin Kent states the problem and the solution in this way, “We’re going after a segment of the population still using LimeWire and other unexciting hubs with no distractions to the lengthy, boring process of downloading music from unreliable sources. We’re offering them entertainment: music news, artist information and bios, pictures and album art, concert and tour information, chart positions, all of which are of interest to serious music lovers.”

Apparently LimeWire users had never been told that they are not required to sit and stare at the screen while music is downloading. These folks will truly enjoy a flurry of music-related advertisements to bring entertainment to their lives. Kent says the advertisements are a small price to pay.

Spiral Frog appears to have a promising future. Universal Music Group is onboard (more than 25% of market share). Agreements with EMI and a number of indie labels could take their music offering up to 50% of the world’s commercially available music.

Caution: Don’t delete LimeWire yet – not until you here the rest of the story. We need a little more discussion about ‘cost’ in terms of music convenience and usability?

First – Spiral Frog’s downloads will not work on your iPod, or your new Microsoft Zune. In addition, downloads cannot be burned to a CD. (Glad I saved your LimeWire from swift destruction?)

Second – Spiral Frog’s downloads will not be MP3 files. They will be Windows Media files encoded with DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology. This is a cyber-leash that monitors how far the music travels and compiles demographic data abut who is listening to what. The files will actually disintegrate if moved beyond just one PC and two portable devices.

Now you can see why the big companies are willing to sign on. With the DRM control and tracking in place, Spiral Frog will pay royalties based on how many times a song gets played, not only on how many times it is downloaded.

What do you think about that? Too limiting for your taste?
Josh Bernoff, principal analyst for Cambridge-based Forrester Research says, “If every single CD that’s released can easily be ripped – and they can – then it’s time to put the whole copy protected digital rights debate behind us. Emusic is the No. 2 download site on the market even though it’s all indie label material. But their files are totally unprotected MP3s, and that’s what built their popularity. Let’s just admit the emperor has no clothes and start selling unprotected MP3s.”

The battle for money in the music industry continues.

djbtol