U.K.-based independent recording artist Toby Slater (AKA: tobyslater) seems to be the one of the first performer in the history of online music to actually make money from San Mateo-based Napster's song-swapping service.

To date, the former front man for Virgin Records band, Catch, says he has made $24 - all in suggested donations.

San Francisco-based Trymedia, which worked with Slater on the money making scheme, says the news is significant because Slater has generated not only money from being on Napster, but also one of the first direct revenues in any peer-to-peer environment.

"It might not be a lot of money," says Trymedia spokesperson Chris White. "But before you break out into hysterical laughter - think about this. It's not the amount of money that is important. What is important is that it shows is what an artist can do."

Slater used Trymedia's ActiveMARK, a content control and monetization system (currently being beta tested) that let his listeners make voluntary contributions for the new version of Slater's latest song - "For You."

Back in December 2000, Slater teamed up with Napster to promote and distribute his tracks as a part of Napster's Featured Music Program. The artists says he promotes the downloading of his songs using peer-to-peer services like Napster but using other means of making money from it.

"Napster is an enormous distribution tool, but that's all it is," says Slater. "Technologies like ActiveMARK give individual artists the choice to charge for their content or not through distribution channels like Napster while also enhancing the listeners' experience by combining music with true multimedia elements such as video and graphics."

Trymedia's method lets a song searcher listen to a few seconds of the track and then link them to a larger site complete with a picture of the artist, background information and a way to pay for the download. In Slater's case a donation.

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White says the company's next move is to bring better-known bands on board.

"Toby may have only gotten $24 for now," says White. "But other bands like Metallica could make much more."