Imeem Goes Universal!
12.10.07 - 01:06pm
iMeem has just signed a contract with Universal sealing the largest of the four top music labels on their free music sharing social networking site.
Imeem began in October of 2004 as a social media service made for watching, posting, and sharing content of all media types, paid for by advertisers. However, before it was able to get the music, Imeem first had to fight with the music labels over their free advertising based music file sharing, even being sued by Warner for copyright infringement.
Eventually the beleaguered music labels came around, finally realizing that digital was where the money was and things would have to be done differently if they were going to bring profits back up. Imeem was then able to settle their differences with Warner and sign them. Previously they had already signed with EMI, Sony, BMG and a number of small labels. The labels get a piece of the money made from Imeem’s advertisers. Universal was the one holdout left.
“If (the Universal deal) isn’t a vindication for what we’re doing, I don’t know what is,” Imeem co-founder and CEO Dalton Caldwell said in an interview with CNET News.com.
Even Apple has signed with Imeem offering instant downloading of their songs via iTunes, as well as having an advertising deal. Imeem has also signed advertising deals with the giants of Microsoft, Nike and Toyota.
On the iMeem site you can create a profile, set up a music playlist that is free, and then share it with friends and newcomers to the site. To actually download the music to your iPod or computer from the site you must pay for it via iTunes or Amazon, but while you are on the computer you can browse and listen to whole songs and playlists for free.
The site has music playlists from your favorite stars such as Paolo Nutini featuring their favorite songs along with introductions from the stars. They also have all the new albums the major labels are promoting that you can listen to in full. The advertising is subtle and not distracting at all providing a perfect way to listen and maybe even find some great stuff to buy. Advertisers such as Puma create music lists for listeners and homepages to promote their products.
Whether or not Imeem will succeed and continue to be able to offer free music will depend on how many user profiles it can accumulate. Right now they boast over 19 million subscribers and lots and lots of music.
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