The first "indie" label has hooked up with SprialFrog to offer ad supported P2P'esque music downloads. KOCH Records (Public Enemy, Master P, X-hibit, Bone Thugs in Harmony, Judas Preist) is a big fish among the indie sea, and brings a stack of content to the table. Something from the press release bothers me:

"With this agreement, SpiralFrog solidifies its commitment to independent as well as major-label music. It reinforces SpiralFrog's belief that offering the broadest possible choice to its target audience -- people between the ages of 13 and 34 -- will benefit everyone, including music lovers, participating labels, advertisers, and SpiralFrog."

What's missing from that statement? The artist. The artists are conspiculously absent from that language, which again makes me question how the music will be licensed for commercial supported downloads. My guess (and my fear, as I've said before) is that artists will only be compensated when a song is purchased, and that the ad supported nature of SpiralFrog lends itself incredibly well to the recording industry's old-school tactic of labeling certain transactions as promotional in effort to avoid royalties. We already know that the labels who have signed with SpiralFrog have received large up front payments that almost certainly aren't being shared with artists.

We know that labels and artists get screwed when you download from P2P networks instead of buying. As far as I can tell, only the labels are removed from that list when SpiralFrog is involved.