When the music industry began suing song swappers in September, Kazaa was characteristically quiet. It is the most popular peer-to-peer program, enabling users to swap free songs, movies and games that owners contend should be paid for. Nearly 300 million copies of the software have been acquired at Cnet’s Download.com, and Kazaa says it has 60 million users. Kazaa CEO Nikki Hemming has ducked most media, until now. Wednesday, she’s going public with a high-profile advertising campaign in newspapers, aiming to mobilize Kazaa users to fight back.
Hemming says she’s trying to push Kazaa toward respectability by also offering paid, licensed downloads, which began in early 2002. Prices range from 99 cents a song or $4.99 for an album to $2.99 for movies. Major music labels have refused to sign on, but some independents have joined, mostly rappers. Hemming spoke with USA TODAY’s Jefferson Graham by telephone from Australia. Edited excerpts:
Q: You rarely do interviews. Why now?
A: Being based in Sydney, I’m usually asleep when you’re awake, so we’ve tried to communicate with press releases. But what we’ve done has been taken for granted, and our message needs to be shared.
Q: What’s the idea behind the ad campaign?
A: We’ve been trying to get a positive solution with the entertainment industry for 18 months and have heard nothing but deafness. It’s time to take a constructive stand and speak up for consumers. We want to encourage our users to buy the licensed content on Kazaa and mobilize them to write to lawmakers and the music industry.
Q: Let’s play devil’s advocate. The labels, who are suing Kazaa for copyright infringement, call you a “pirate.” Why should they talk to you when so many people use your software to download songs instead of buying them?
A: We don’t have the technical capability to stop that. What we can do is use our program to promote the content (people pay for). That sends a very strong message to consumers. Artists like Ice-T, Chuck D. and Russell Simmons are doing very well with us. The principle is now established that we can get consumers to buy. Imagine how many millions of artist dollars have been left on the table by the industry. The consumer has chosen peer-to-peer technology as their preferred method of obtaining content. I don’t buy that everything about P2P is theft.
Q: Some studies have said use of services like Kazaa fell after the Recording Industry Association of America (news – web sites) sued 340 individuals for song-swapping. What’s your take on the effect?
A: There’s total confusion in the marketplace, but the number of users we have online at any given time, 4.2 million, is as strong as ever.
Q: The RIAA’s hope is that people stop sharing songs on services like yours and … go on to for-pay alternatives, such as Apple’s iTunes Music Store. What happens to Kazaa if people do that?
A: The prospect of 60 million worldwide users stopping the use of technology they’ve been supporting for two years is a scenario that will never play out. Sharing content over the Net is a common thing, not just through us. Peer-to-peer is the most efficient way to share files. It’s a normal thing to do. The core issue is consumer behavior, and whether 60 million users are criminals. I’d say that’s just totally incorrect.
Q: Many people shy from programs like Kazaa because of the ad pop-ups that can take over your computer. What are you doing about that?
A: We sell a commercial-free version for $29.95. Otherwise, it’s the traditional commercial model. The program is free, in exchange for advertising. The consumer proposition is simple. Buy it or get a few ads, six pop-ups in a 24-hour period. That’s much better than how it works with commercial television.
