"There's no cost barrier, I don't have to pay $20 to find out whether I like it (a CD) or not."

Paul Myers | Wippit CEO


January, 2002 -- During the past year, there's been a lot of fury, disinformation, and posturing about the 'detrimental' impact of file sharing systems on music industry sales all over the world. One crucial fact is that people are unhappy about the price of CDs -- prices which often are 10 times more than the manufacturing cost. Wippit.com founder Paul Myers believes his new service offers an important alternative. A musician himself, Myers states in our Griots Groove interview, 'There's no cost barrier. I don't have to pay $20 to find out whether I like it (a CD) or not and I hate paying $20 to find out I don't like an artist. It's something that I deeply dislike'

In this adverse economic climate, the UK's independently funded Wippit.com rose to the challenge of creating a legal and visionary online subscription service which would be non-exclusive and available to musicians and music lovers worldwide. In late 1999, Paul Myers and his partners, including the creators of the UK's first free ISP, The X-Stream Network, decided to setup the new file sharing software company. Two years later, Wippit.com has established itself as the first legal file sharing system, inspired by the Bertelsmann affiliated Napster, launched well in advance of any other similar service. I heard about Wippit through a BBC article and decided to contact Myers. I first visited Wippit.com online before making my way to their offices near Tottenham Court Road tube station in London. Subscribing to Wippit.com's music download service, I was pleasantly surprised to find music by artists like Rose Windross, U-Roy, African Headcharge, Lisa Shaw, among many others.

In the Wippit office, I found a personable, enthusiastic group of visionaries who seem to have good business sense and marketing skills combined with new media savvy and a sophisticated understanding of the music industry. Myers' clear, down-to-earth optimism is infectious as he talks about a music download future where artists like Madonna and other major label artists could be found on the same service as Jah Wobble and Test Dept. 'From an independent artist's point of view, just in the same way as with a record label be it small or large, we need to make sure that those rights are cleared by the rights owners, which is a simple 2 page agreement.'

Wippit's first major non-exclusive agreement was made with the UK Association of Independent Music (AIM) and has recently signed a similar agreement with Edel Music. Artists whose music is downloaded by Wippit subscribers receive royalties drawn from revenues made up of a combination of subscription fees, advertising and other revenue generating avenues such as mobile phone ring tones downloads.

Built using something Myers calls Music DNA and a white list system, Wippit.com has been attracting online music fans to become subscribers for just over a year. With a diverse database of music for download, Myers and his partners in Wippit.com have a clear simple approach to their file sharing system for artists and subscribers. 'Get the agreement, read the agreement, agree with the agreement, sign the agreement, get us the music, and sit back and wait and see what happens. From an independent artists point of view it's a very easy way of distributing music or maybe testing the waters for some of the music.'

Myers acknowledges that artists who have radio, TV, poster, and live performance support, especially if they are being promoted by a major record label, have a greater chance for more exposure on file sharing systems like Wippit or Napster. Recently, things have begun to heat up as the major record labels and other similar corporations have launched 'legit' file sharing networks. But music fans aren't simply giving an immediate green light to the new services. As seen in parody sites such as press-play.net music fans are critical and cautious, even about the news that Napster (who's legal challenges have been put on hold as some of the major labels discuss possible out of court settlements) will be back online soon. Until now free file sharing services have been broadly vilified as a scourge within the music industry. Myers comments matter-of-factly, 'There will always be music for download available free somewhere. There will always be piracy. It's never going to go away. What the Napster case has done is, it has firmed up the legal precedents.'

There are many who don't completely buy the argument that file sharing networks have single-handedly damaged music industry sales. Curiously, rather than embrace the blatant marketing opportunities for artists inherent in the file sharing systems, industry focus has had a stranglehold on the popular pioneering Napster and other similar initiatives -- at a time when consumer spending habits have been radically changing for a variety of reasons.

Well in advance of the emergence of free music sharing online, many music fans had stopped spending as much money on concert tickets or on buying CDs. Everywhere we turn, we hear on TV, radio, the Web, in the paper, that these are recessive times. Yes, people have felt the economic pinch worldwide for some time now. And while the issue of high CDs prices is a particular sore point with music lovers, millions of us do continue to buy music -- regardless of the fact that CD sales have gone down over the last couple of years.

While it's also true that millions continue downloading music from a variety of Napster-style services, fans do want to support the artists. The question remains about whether or not the new 'legit' file sharing systems will succeed. It's possible that groups like Wippit.com may grow simply because of the nature of how we choose to spend our money. Ultimately file sharing systems like Wippit.com, Napster and others (legal or not) are grounded in tried and true word of mouth grassroots promotion. You know the kind? Where we simply tell each other that the music or software is worth a try? A recent Wired.com article confirms that word of mouth continues to work for the Grateful Dead, and other bands, whose fans exchange tapes worldwide. These same fans still turn out in force to see their live shows or purchase their records whenever the band actually releases one.

A recent CyberAtlas article cites industry analyst Jupiter Media Metrix projections that by the end of 2003, online subscriptions will be the main digital music format and that the online music sales will be about $5.5 billion by 2006 (which is down by just over 1/2 billion from a previous report). In a recent article written by Myers for leading UK newspaper The Guardian, Myers notes that independent record labels make up about 30% of UK music sales. Myers believes that, as in the traditional storefront retail world, it won't be long before we'll be able to buy the right to download through Wippit.com a wide range of music from all major and independent record labels. Myers believes subscription-based file sharing is a viable service and a good tool to help music fans decide if they want to buy a particular CD or the entire works of a particular artist. He says, 'Until you actually start using it, you don't know why you should pay for it. Or until you've got a friend that says this is pretty good, have you tried it. Yeah, it's only £50 a year.'

Wippit.com is certainly well worth the price. I've tried it, like it and subscribed...partly because they're independent and consistent. Wippit subscription rates, increasing in February 2002, are currently available at a reduced rate of £30 for a year.

written by Marva Jackson Lord

photo courtesy of Wippit.com