New record label lets you download music for free

“Download for free” is something of a taboo in the entertainment industry as bootleg content continues to take chunks out of studios’ revenue. But one record label is branching out and giving the people what they want: free music.

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“At DigSin, we believe in the amazing talent of our artists, and we want to share their music with you,” DigSin says on its Facebook page. “We are committed to delivering the best new music to fans, for free.”

DigSin, a new record label company, is offering all of its songs for free download on its site, according to The Next Web. It will still offer its music through traditional channels such as iTunes and streaming through Spotify, but DigSin owner Jay Frank says he wants to glean information about the type of person coming for his music, their interests, etc. than make sure everyone is paying up front for his label’s songs. He’s still supplementing the free downloads for ad revenue from the site, but doesn’t see that money being any bread and butter.

The word “copyright” has been in people’s mouths for the past few months give then SOPA protests as well as the shut down of file sharing website Megaupload. Websites such as BitTorrent, The Pirate Bay and even Dropbox have changed the way content is distributed. Not too long ago, content was handed out by the record labels and production studios after weeks and weeks of anticipated debuts. With the digitization of just about everything, and faster connection speeds, pirated content is the way many people watch or listen to entertainment.

But could the freemium model really reach the entertainment industry? iTunes brought down the price of music significantly when it instituted the .99 cents per song model. Now, that model is an expected price for legitimate copies of music. Streaming services such as Spotify and Rdio bring the price further down, depending on your consumption of music. But to force an industry into finding a new way of making money still seems a bit far off. Megaupload’s case — a file sharing site charged with copyright infringement and money laundering — shows music labels and production studios are still fighting back hard against copyright infringement. It also shows the government’s willingness to help.

DigSin’s first single comes out tomorrow, check out its website here and tell us if you think this is a big step for music distribution in the future.

via The Next Web, Musical image via Shutterstock