MP3.com Hands Out $1 Million In Playback Program

MP3.com Wednesday announced May compensation figures of its Payback for
Playback program, which amounted to a payout of $1,000,000 to digital artists who post music on the site.

As a result of the its success, the program will be extended
through July.

The top-earning artist in was
303Infinity. Mikel Fair, the founder of 303Infinity earned $23,786.81 through the program.

“The program serves as the cornerstone of our
revolutionary royalty tracking technology,” said Michael Robertson,
chairman and chief executive officer of MP3.com. “We are
dedicated to growing the digital music space by creating a revenue-generating
online infrastructure that will drive the new music economy.

“Projecting the
band’s compensation in May to continue over the course of a year, a digital
artist like 303Infinity could generate approximately $275,000 profit
annually. That’s an incredible figure that validates the commercial viability
of an advertising-based revenue model for music,” he said.

Employing an advertising-based revenue model similar to network television,
the program utilizes a portion of advertising dollars
raised on MP3.com to pay content owners for their music.

The program is
designed to compensate the more than 74,000 digital artists who post music on
MP3.com, based on the popularity of their music. In the month of May, the top
ten Payback for Playback earners at MP3.com combined to receive over
$135,000.

To join the MP3.com artist community and become eligible for Payback for
Playback, an act must make at least one song, in its entirety, available on
MP3.com for free streaming or downloading.