LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – While politicians and lawyers argue the legalities of peer-to-peer technology, several highly respected musicians are getting on with the business of using it to reach their audience.
Most recently Sananda Maitreya, the artist formerly known as Terence Trent D’Arby (news), has made three songs from his “Angels and Vampires” project available via P2P. The soulful singer’s career never again reached the 1987 heights of “Wishing Well” or “Sign Your Name,” but he still has hard-core fans who are avidly following his artistic evolution.
Maitreya chose Weed technology to distribute his project. Each song is digitally packaged to protect its integrity and maintain its copyright control, using a version of Microsoft’s WMA audio format and related digital rights management. But Weed adds the twist that each person who downloads a track is allowed to play it three times free of charge. A fourth attempt at playing is greeted by a request for payment.
With that distribution choice, Maitreya joins rock veterans Heart. The Sovereign Artists act is working with Weed to distribute tracks from its new album, “Jupiter’s Darling,” as well as an exclusive version of “Love Hurts.” Rhythm Cartel’s Sir Mix-A-Lot, best known for his 1992 hit “Baby Got Back,” is another artist who chose to “Weedify” his music, to use the company’s terminology.
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