Whatever Happened To Spiral Frog?
[Lopy notes: Spiral Frog finally launched, and we finally reviewed it]
Back at the end of August, I did a piece on Spiral Frog, the self-proclaimed online music destination that was going give you, the music-loving public, FREE legal downloads from various major and indie labels. At the time, I didn’t think that — given the fact that the DRM’d, ad-supported music was free in price only — it was the type of devils bargain for which the music loving public was going to fall.
I still don’t. And on at the bottom of each press release in their Press Release section, I discovered this little gem which shows just how little they may know about their target audience:
SpiralFrog offers music-lovers a compelling alternative to illegal file-sharing and pirate sites, with a secure environment for them to satisfy their unyielding passion and thirst for music, entertainment, information and brands at no cost except for their time and attention.
Perhaps. Me, my time and attention are so important to me that I’ve been time-shifting TV shows to avoid wasting both on commercials since the mid-1980s. Also, one of the nice things about downloading songs from, say, eMusic, is that I can be doing other things while the songs download. That’s worth every penny I pay. Oh, also, I can do whatever the hell I want with those songs after I download ‘em, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.
In any event, since according to sources like the BBC, Sprial Frog was supposed to be launched in December, I figured that, one way or another, we’d soon find out.
Since December is pretty much over, and there was no news about the actual launch,I figured that I would check out their website, and all it says is “Coming Soon.”
I dug a little deeper (by reading their Press Releases), and I’ve noticed that their original press release says that they would be in Beta in December, which the site claims that they are. Which means that either a) they’ve gone back and changed that press release to match the current reality, or b) all of the original news stories (which, of course, were at least partly based on the original press release) were wrong. Doesn’t really matter, I guess.
Of course it’s possible that everybody assumed that Beta meant the same thing it means when Google launches a Beta version: that they don’t want to brand it with an actual version number, but they are confident enough in the software to let the public play with it. This, of course, has been happening forever: my entire life was changed completely by a Beta version of Netscape.
That’s fine, not everybody puts their Beta versions out there for the world to see. In the meantime, Spiral Frog been striking deals with various music publishers, (BMI, which represents over 300,000 songwriters, all of whom get their personal attention),and well larger (EMI, which as you know has an unlimited supply).
The bottom line is that Spiral Frog is currently scheduled to launch in Q1 of 2007. We’ll be there to check it out.
Technorati Tags: Spiral Frog, Universal Music Group, EMI, BMI
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13 Comment(s) so far
1. Grooveshark - discover | share | network wrote on December 31st, 2006 at 10:25 am
[...] Information from this post came from MediaLoper — I highly recommend you check out their site! [...]
2. The Weekly ‘Loper - December 31, 2006 | Medialoper wrote on December 31st, 2006 at 11:33 am
[...] Whatever Happened To Spiral Frog? - It’s in double-secret Beta!! [...]
3. Anon wrote on January 6th, 2007 at 9:43 am
Is there a way to access the beta? Separate address?
4. Friend wrote on January 26th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
yeah my aunt told me i should use spiral frog, b/c i don’t want to pay or do it illgely so i really want to know where this thing is
5. Joe Dieci wrote on March 1st, 2007 at 2:26 pm
I am baffled as to why all of these blogs and articles talk about these three companies who have never even launched….I have released my artists on INTENT Media Works 2 years ago and they have been doing ad supported P2P distribution since before MgM grok and they are mentioned in the Case as the way of the futre which is where I found them
You people are so miss informed by media hype it is funny… 50 cent just did a deal with INTENT
Spiral Frog and the rest are copying models that have been doing it and just did not market and press release the shit out of everything… OPen your eyes….
6. Jim wrote on March 1st, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Joe,
Since we think that these type of models — how you say? — suck ass, perhaps you should be glad that you aren’t being scrutinized.
Also, with all of the choices out there, how do you expect people to find you without tons of press releases? I mean, besides writing insulting possibly spam comments in blogs that cover things like Spiral Frog?
7. Kassia wrote on March 1st, 2007 at 9:20 pm
Joe, I think we’re the, oh, how to say this?, most cynical humans on the face of the earth when it comes to press releases. We don’t even believe our own. I also think our personal and professional records on independent distribution speak for themselves. Jim’s article isn’t hyping Spiral Frog — if you’ve followed his coverage, it’s quite the opposite. We don’t have a lot of faith in the major media when it comes to getting the Internet right.
Jim is accurate in his comment that press releases can lead to hype. We do not (ever) doubt the power of word-of-mouth, but I’m going to say that your endorsement doesn’t speak well for Intent (whatever that is, I’m not the music geek on the team). We — humanity, not just Team ‘Loper — are desperately seeking affordable, usable, practical ways to access many decades of back catalog from both major and independent labels. So, yeah, we’re going to be interested in ventures that are big enough to support the desires of a vast majority of consumers. We’re also going to be skeptical of ventures that put unnecessary restrictions on those consumers or lead to people paying multiple times to enjoy media.
Every now and then, someone who thinks they know the industry because they’re involved on a peripheral basis tells us that we don’t know what we’re talking about. Yeah, well, we can’t stop them. But we can tell you that we (collectively) have a lot of knowledge and experience. Plus, we don’t drink the Kool-Aid. Unless it’s laced with vodka.
8. Do You Want Spiral Frog? Get Thee To Canada! | Medialoper wrote on June 20th, 2007 at 7:24 am
[...] However, as I noted at the end of 2006, Spiral Frog pushed back their release date to Q1 2007, so we had to wait a big longer for our FREE music. How much longer, no one really knew, as reports surfaced about problems behind the scenes. At various points, I tried to sign up for previews and emails via their website, but I guess that I’m persona non grata. [...]
9. underdog wrote on August 16th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
finally, you can register! i am disappointed, but its not as bad as it could have been.
10. Michael wrote on September 17th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Yes, Spiral Frog is finally open (http://www.spiralfrog.com)
11. The Medialoper Review of Spiral Frog | Medialoper wrote on September 26th, 2007 at 10:57 am
[...] been resisting doing a review of Spiral Frog for awhile. I’ve written about it negatively at least twice before, and so I want to say this up front: there is just no way for me to be [...]
12. TonyRumble wrote on March 27th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Spiralfrog isn’t bad at all. I’m a university student that’s always on the lookout for good music. I’m at school most of the time, and our university doesn’t support any of the illegal p2p crap out there (BT, lime, etc), which means any of those progs will result in a 24 hour kick/ban.
Here’s where Spiralfrog comes in. I can get all the downloads and plays I want from the campus wireless for FREE. Nothing bad about it. They get their music directly from the record labels so its all legal.
I would recommend it for everyone. Support the artists!
13. Has Spiral Frog Become An Essential Part of Your Life? | Medialoper wrote on March 28th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
[...] first making fun of the concept, then making fun of the amazingly long time to market, and finally, making fun of the thing itself, I figured that I was done with ever writing about it [...]