uTorrent Makes It Easier For Artists To Cash In From Free Content

July 26, 2012 by
Filed under: Announcements & Events, File-Sharing Programs, Networks & Services 

uTorrent is the popular file-sharing platform that will enable artists to make some money out of free content found on BitTorrent’s networks.

The company behind uTorrent shook hands with an established musician – DJ Shadow. He will include software from advertisers in the free bundle, aside from exclusive materials produced by him. How are the revenues generated? It’s simple – each time one BitTorrent user chooses to install that piece of software, it will generate revenues for both the artist and the company.

No more than a decade ago even the thought of giving away their work for free made artists frown. But things changed dramatically since then, and now BitTorrent is practicing new ways of helping artists.

The idea behind this “project” is quite simple: BitTorrent promotes the bundle to its 150 million users, while the package also includes a piece of software that’s optional to install, whether it’s an anti-virus or media player platform.

When someone installs that piece of software, revenues are generated.
“We believe we can make digital distribution even more viable for creators and fans. So, beginning now, we’ll be testing new ways to drive profitability for creators while delivering even more meaningful media experiences for our users,” reads Eric Klinker’s (BitTorrent’s CEO) announcement.

The first artist to take part of this experiment is the popular DJ Shadow. He’s already made available a BitTorrent Bundle that includes not only his work (tracks from the Hidden Transmission From The MPC ERA [1992-1996]) but also various goodies and sponsored software.

“Our core business is creating the best torrent products in the world. While we will always have advertising and offer-free products in market such as BitTorrent Plus, we’ve seen how relevant and meaningful good content offers are to our users, and how supportive the BitTorrent community is of the content creators we work with,” said Klinker.

As for promoting the featured content, BitTorrent will apply several methods to reach out both new and old users. New users have the option to download the bundle when they install uTorrent, while old users are approached with banners and text ads.

“New business models built on top of the BitTorrent ecosystem are the future of content. This is where fans are. It’s time to bring artists, filmmakers and game developers into that conversation in meaningful ways too,” explained BT’s CEO.

While this is only an experiment, the file-sharing company is working on various campaigns with basically the same purpose.

DJ Shadow’s package can be downloaded here.

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