On Monday, Universal Music Group announced it would enter a licensing agreement with IMEEM, a social network focused on sharing music. This may signal a new focus for Universal on finding ways to market to fans instead of finding ways to punish them.

IMEEM allows users to enjoy an unlimited stream of audio and video, provided they’re also willing to digest advertising. Putting songs on any sort of portable media including CDs and iPods costs $.99 per track.

According to The New York Times, Universal struggled with this decision. Rio Caraeff, an executive in the digital unit at Universal said “is it going cannibalize our existing sales because people who spend a lot of money on music aren’t going to do that any more, because they can get the music they want on Imeem? Or is it going to attract new people to the service who don’t buy music anymore?”

The gamble from Universal’s perspective rests on advertiser interest driven by the potentially millions of listeners accessing music online.

However, Universal’s announcement contrasts with the spirit of the RIAA’s persistent reminders that sharing music is illegal. According to Wired, “Sony’s BMG’s anti-piracy officer Jennifer Pariser was asked by record industry attorney Richard Gabriel if ripping songs from a CD was legal.  She said no — that’s "a nice way of saying, steals just one copy."

With comments like that it’s obvious that some members of the RIAA aren’t ready to embrace what fans want. Law may support the RIAA, but that may be related to their ability to lobby for new legislation with a deep purse.

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Entry was posted on Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 at 7:00 pm under Music.

Read more entries by Matt Jansen.
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