SpiralFrog (www.spiralfrog.com) hails itself as ‘A Digital Entertainment Destination’ for their target audience whom SpiralFrog CEO, Robin Kent believes are “the driving force behind the changes in how music is created, discovered and consumed.” Based on an ad-supported model, SprialFrog has done their research into just how to put this revolutionary website together and offer their audience of 13-34 year olds, “an easy-to-use alternative to pirated music sites…[offering] those consumers a better experience and environment than they can get from any pirate site”, says Kent. The marketing genius behind SpiralFrog is based on hard statistical evidence and consumer research and while this may seem very unglamorous, SpiralFrog’s success depends on getting it right. The people at SpiralFrog have found that their consumers are more than willing to ‘pay in kind’ for their endless access to music and video download, by watching non-intrusive, contextually relevant, targeted advertising in an online setting where this type of advertising is just part and parcel of the entertainment experience. Kent says; “The audience of music lovers between the ages of 13 to 34 is the core audience we will attract by building a music-centric experience and destination that is second to none, legally delivering what the majority of users want – content they pay for only with their time. It’s content that advertisers are willing to pay for on their behalf.” Robin Kent says “offering legally-authorized audio and video downloads in an advertising-supported environment works, as our business model is based on sharing our income streams from that advertising with our content providers like Universal.” A few words on SpiralFrog’s partners, Universal Music Group (UMG). UMG (www.umusic.com) is the frontrunner in global music sales with an estimated global market share of 25.6% (2005). UMG is a global corporation encompassing a network of international subsidiaries, joint ventures and licensees in 75 countries and represents around 98% of the music industry. The latest alliance with EMI has been signed with their Music Publishing division, which owns the rights to the world’s biggest catalogue of music (this partnership applies only in the US initially). The SpiralFrog-EMI deal gives consumers free access to this catalogue, although only for those tracks where there is an agreement with the artist’s recorded music label. With these two major power alliances signed, sealed and delivered, SpiralFrog will be looking to sign deals with other recorded music labels and music publishing houses which would ensure that approximately half of all music is available to consumers when it launches in December. With these music heavy-weights in toe, it is understandable why SpiralFrog’s competitors are somewhat nervous! SpiralFrog launches in beta in December 2006.