By Rachel Cericola, Nov 29, 2005
How can a budding music service drum up new business? By giving away free downloads. This week music subscription service eMusic announced that they are partnering with retail giant CompUSA to give away 100 free music downloads.
My first thought was: 100 total or 100 per person? From the news I read, it seemed like 100 total, which doesn't divide up well over their many stores across the country. I mean, I drive by at least three CompUSA outlets on my way to work alone. Doesn't 100 free songs sound -- well -- kind of cheap? However, the press release sounds like you get 100 per purchase, which is definitely a sweet deal.
Either way, it sounds like they are trying to create a frenzy, which isn't easy with so many music offerings out there. Buy something, get free music. That's something I can get on board with. The eMusic service boasts over 900,000 tracks, so you should find something that you like. Pre-paid eMusic cards are also available at CompUSA in 15-song ($7.50), 20-song ($9.99) and 65-song ($29) card options.
It's just the usual eMusic sign-up campaign that is available all over the place; sometimes with 50 songs, sometimes with 100. In this case, you go to www.emusic.com/compusa and you get 100 songs if you sign up for the monthly service. A credit card is required but they do allow you to cancel within the trial period and not be billed.
It's not really tied to your CompUSA purchase at all since anyone can go to the URL and sign up. It is also not per purchase. You can only sign up once.