With the recent launch of We7 and SpiralFrog going public this week, consumers are beginning to be able to experience the long promised new era of ad supported downloads. We asked Steve Purdham of We7 to tell us from his point of view how the two services differ:
Hypebot: How fundamentally do the two services differ?
We7:
- We7 is DRM-free vs SpiralFrog which is Windows Media Player DRM only
- We7 tracks will play on iPods, Zunes, phones, in fact any MP3 device vs SpiralFrog’s which play only on limited devices
- We7 means you own the MP3 forever vs SpiralFrog where you lease the songs by renewing your membership every 30 days
- We7 download is fast vs SpiralFrog isn’t
- We7 graft a small (10s) targeted audio ad to each track vs SpiralFrog slows the download and shows a video
Hypebot: Does We7 feel at a disadvantage since SpiralFrog has a deeper catalogue
including Universal?
We7: Absolutely not, SpiralFrog have spent millions in getting one major, they still have massive holes in their catalogue. We have been open with our community telling them what we have and when to expect more, and by delivering against expectations we are building great loyalty already.
Hypebot: Why does you believe the We7 model will prevail?
We7: Its simple the consumer will decide. Already independent research from Frukt has 
shown that almost twice as many consumers prefer our audio model to SpiralFrog’s video model. However the real reason consumers will decide is because we deliver non-DRM music with no restrictions that can play on any device, anytime, anywhere.
