Offspring Offering Album For Free On The Web

Rock band to let fans downloand Conspiracy Of One before it's in stores

In the boldest embrace yet of downloadable music by a major artist, the Offspring announced on Friday (Sept. 15) that their new album, Conspiracy of One, will be available for free downloading a month before its November commercial release.

"We are trying to launch our album with promotions that are fan supportive rather than fan exploitative," Offspring singer Dexter Holland said in a press release and on the band's official Web site, www.offspring.com.

The band is not planning to give the tracks directly to Napster, maker of the popular and controversial file-sharing software that enables music to be freely traded without authorization from bands or labels. However, once some fans have downloaded the track, others likely will be able to find it, using Napster's technology.

"We expect it will be on Napster," a source close to the band said. "Ironically, it will probably be there already [before the promotion starts]. The point is, we're not giving it away; it's available already."

"We're trying to launch our album with promotions that are fan supportive rather than fan exploitative - Dexter Holland, Offspring's singer

The Offspring's label, Columbia, is part of Sony, which is one of the record companies suing Napster. That lawsuit is set to go to trial Oct. 2, and one Internet analyst said that if the label tries to squash the Offspring's efforts, it could make a significant difference in the way Sony presents its case in the courtroom and to the public.

"It will make it very hard for Sony to continue to claim that they're representing the rights of artists, which has always been their claim," said Eric Schierer of Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass.

Offspring Label Expresses Concerns

Representatives for Columbia were unavailable for comment Friday. The Los Angeles Times quoted a Sony spokesperson as saying the label "has very real concerns when it comes to unsecured downloading of music and piracy on the Internet."

Suggesting the label is hoping to get the Offspring to modify their plans, the spokesperson read a statement saying, "We're hopeful that we can arrive at a method that will protect everyone's rights and still maintain the integrity of the band's idea," according to the Times.

The Offspring announcement came a week after the Smashing Pumpkins released via the Internet what they are calling their final album. The Chicago band sent copies of the album to 25 people, asking them to spread it around the Web. Unlike the Offspring, the Pumpkins have said they have no plans to release the album commercially.

The Offspring plan to post an MP3 of the album's first single, "Original Prankster," on their official site, as well as other Web outlets — including MTV.com, radio-station sites and retail sites — on Sept. 29, according to the band's the release. Soon after, the entire album will be available at the band's site.

Retail-Purchase Incentives To Be Offered

But the band said it will give fans an incentive to buy the CD once it's released to stores on Nov. 14, by including a "key" on the disc that allows buyers to link to a coded section of the band's Web site and become a member of the band's new fan club. The club, "The Offspring Nation," will offer exclusive downloads, animated films, artist chats and advance concert-ticket sales, according to the release.

"We figure since we make our music available to everyone for free, this will act as a special acknowledgment to our fans who go to the trouble to buy the CD," Holland said in the statement.

Offspring manager Jim Guerinot said on Friday that those value-added elements of the CD are being included with record stores in mind.

"We support retail partners because they have been beleaguered by all of this [downloading]," Guerinot said. "It's a thanks to retail for selling our records, to say ... we're not going to bypass everyone and just post stuff online. We still like record stores."

Guerinot said part of the band's motivation is to take more control over the distribution of their music. "We shouldn't have to stand by while someone else presents the Offspring's creations," he said.

If Sony tries to stop Napster from making the tracks available for free, the label would be forced to admit that its motivation in suing the company is protecting its own business interests, Schierer said. "That's more honest, but it doesn't have the rosy PR spin that protecting artists' rights has," he said.

A Napster spokesperson had no comment.

Band Offers $1 Million In Contest

Fans downloading tracks from the album will be able to enter a contest to win $1 million. The winner will be announced live on MTV on Nov. 14, the day Conspiracy of One hits stores. (Sonicnet.com's parent company, Viacom, also owns MTV).

Neither a sponsor nor Sony is contributing to the band's cash prize, according to the release. "We feel strongly that the band's fans have put their hard-earned money into [the band's] pockets, and [the band] wants to give some of it back," Guerinot said.

"[The promotion] could change one of their fan's life — just like the fans, through their support, have changed the Offspring's lives," Guerinot added.

The band's statement suggests the Offspring don't believe free downloads will hurt the sales of Conspiracy of One. It quotes a 1998 Wired magazine report that a free MP3 of the single "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" was downloaded more than 22 million times in 10 weeks. Americana, the album on which the single appeared, still sold 10.5 million copies worldwide. "We don't believe it will necessarily cannibalize music sales; it's not proven," the source close to the band said. "Look at Eminem, Britney Spears. They're out there and they're still selling millions."

In May, the Offspring made waves when they began selling items with the Napster logo on their Web site, without Napster's consent. The company quickly issued a cease-and-desist order but on June 5 agreed to let the band continue to sell the merchandise.

By Eric Schumacher-Rausmussen / Gil Kaufman, from SonicNet - September 15, 2000