MegaUpload Founder Continues With Vision Of Cloud-Based Music Service

Despite having most of his assets seized as part of his indictment for criminal copyright infringement and conspiracy, MegaUpload’s founder Kim Dotcom has announced that his vision of a new music business model will continue on with Megabox. According to Dotcom, artists should “rejoice” as his service aims to shift the balance of power from corporations to the artists who produce the content itself.

First revealed back in December of 2011 (just one month before Dotcom’s criminal proceeding became known to the public), Megabox was introduced to the public as “a site that will soon allow artists to sell their creations direct to consumers and allowing artists to keep 90% of earnings.”

In addition, Dotcom has said that artists would be earning money from free downloads. This would likely be facilitated through MegaKey, an adware service that would swap ads on third-party websites for MegaUpload’s own display ads. Details still remain scarce, and it is unclear whether this ad-swapping model will even be a part of the Megabox service.

Dotcom has had his restrictions to the Internet dropped and has since set up a new Twitter account. Yesterday, he announced that Megabox is still very much in the works and included a screenshot of the project:

(Click image to enlarge)

Megabox promises “unlimited space for all your music” and judging from the screenshot, appears to include a player, a search feature, a shop section, and a degree of social integration. It’s unknown how far along development is or how long until we can expect to see Megabox in action, but as most of Dotcom’s assets remain frozen, there may be a significant delay in Megabox’s launch.

Stay tuned for more on Megabox as more details become known.

—

Hisham Dahud is a Senior Analyst for Hypebot.com. Additionally, he is the head of Business Development for Fame House, LLC and an independent musician. Follow him on Twitter: @HishamDahud