Offspring Offer New Album Free on Net, Prize Money Too

Dexter Holland and Co. to make next album avaiable as MP3 download

The Offspring are putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to MP3 downloads. After coming out in support of Napster and MP3 technology this past spring, the Southern California punk band plans to make available their upcoming album Conspiracy of One free via the Internet.

The first single, "Original Prankster" will be released on their Web site (www.offspring.com) on Sept. 29, with the rest of the album to follow (the official release date is Nov. 14). Additionally, the band is developing an online contest for fans who download Conspiracy, making them eligible for a $1,000,000 from the group's own pockets.

"This money came directly to us from our fans," said frontman Dexter Holland in a statement. "We feel it would be cool to redirect it back to them. We are trying to launch our album with promotions that are fan supportive rather than fan exploitative. We feel that giving them our music and letting them have back some of their money is a great way to show how much they mean to us."

Additionally, to encourage people who may have downloaded Conspiracy to buy the disc, the Offspring are adding special codes to the CD which will allow access to exclusive material including digital fan club access, exclusive downloads, animated films and more.

"We decided that we would create a super fan club for those of our fans who actually buy our CD. The CD has a key in the CD Extra section that registers members to the Offspring Nation, our fan club. We figure since we make our music available to everyone for free this will act as a special acknowledgement to our fans who go to the trouble to buy our CD," Holland's statement read.

Holland told RollingStone.com in April that he had faith MP3 technology did not dissuade fans from purchasing records. "From what I can tell it's not taking any money from people," he said. "It's the spirit of music; it's the spirit of rock & roll. More people coming to the party. Not less."

By Jolie Lash, from Rolling Stone - September 16, 2000