We7 Live

We7 is officially out of beta format. We7 is the website that ran with the business model of having ad-supported song and album streams. Peter Gabriel is a founder, investor, and board member. The site has a catalog of over 3 million licensed songs from all 4 major labels as well as some of the independent labels. Ads are targeted based upon details provided during sign-up.

This is an interesting model and one I will continue to keep an eye on for financial viability. With the downturn in the economy, will this affect advertising rates for the ads played before and after songs? And will consumers accept the free music with ads when they can download free music without ads? I thinks targeted ads make great sense on a site like Hulu.com, where you can watch tv shows or full-length movies. One add every 8 minutes or so (for tv shows) is acceptable. It becomes a little more difficult for ads between 3 and 4 minute songs.

I will continue to watch We7 and report on any updates.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com