MP3.com Earmarks Funds For My.MP3-Heard Artists

21-Apr-00

MP3.com said it would set aside money to be claimed by artists whose music is heard through My.MP3.com, a personal online music service that has been targeted in a massive copyright infringement suit. The money, which MP3.com says will come from a $1 million-per-month fund earmarked for its ""Payback for Playback"" program, will be made available to any artist registered with MP3.com. The company says it is committing $1 million for each of the months of May and June to its ""Payback for Playback"" program, which pays artists monies directly based on the number of listens they receive. Each artist registered with MP3.com has their own account where they can track their earnings online on a daily basis. It's the My.MP3.com service, which lets consumers store and playback their personal CD collection in a free online account, that has the major labels up in arms. A US district court judge in New York is scheduled to hand down his decision on whether to grant major record labels their motion for a summary judgement in their suit on April 28, 2000. ""All of us involved in the digital music industry are experiencing various degrees of uncertainty as to what economic models will prevail in the future,"" stated Michael Robertson, in a prepared release . ""Unfortunately, it is artists who suffer most from the turmoil created by industry lawsuits, copyright and royalty issues. That is why MP3.com is continuing to put its money where its mouth is, in support of Internet-based music and the artists and labels who are contributing to this growing community."" Source: Pro Sound News