Turn it off, TurnItUp
p2pnet news view Music | Advertising:- SpiralFrog is well-and-truly dead, but its odour lingers on and the latest company to try to get people to look at ads in exchange for ‘free’ music is something called TurnItUp Media.
But this time, the company reckon it’ll score big because it’s found a way to get cash out of advertisers by proving punters have eye-balled specific paid-for fluff items for up to 30 seconds each.
Of course, it doesn’t follow that just because someone sees an ad, they’ll rush out and buy something. But who cares? The trick is to prove they went there, not that they actually did anything on arrival.
“With the recent demise of free [ahem] music download sites such as SpiralFrog and Ruckus, many digital music users may wonder if similar ad-supported sites have any staying power,” says TurnItUp Media, going on »»»
The aforementioned sites have left a negative legacy of debt, and in the case of Ruckus, songs that won’t work after a certain period of time.
Ruckus?
“In yet another blow to the corporate music industry, Ruckus, known by some as Fuckus, the RIAA-touted ‘independent’ corporate music service designed to shoehorn ‘product’ into American schools, is no more,” said p2pnet recently.
Back to TurnItOff Media »»»
… with so many users having grown accustomed to music freebies in one way or another, is there any viable alternative to an ad-supported download system?
Er, yes. There is. Charge reasonable prices and people will pay, no problem. And stop suing them.
But company president William Fleming, doesn’t agree.
In fact, a “new paradigm is necessary at this juncture,” he says, because, “Since users have gotten used to downloading free, illegal music from P2P networks, it is very difficult to convert them to paying customers. The ideal solution is free, unrestricted, and legal music, based on advertisement revenues that fully encompass a social media experience.”
Yes, folks. Being forced to watch an advertisement for half-a-minute (or “interact with short media spots,” as Fleming describes it) is “unrestricted”.
The blurb states, “Our advertisers have agreed to provide quality ad spots and offers that let you earn free MP3 downloads about every 60 seconds.”
Quality ad spots? That’s an oxymoron isn’t it?
But never mind. “How cool is that!” - Fleming warbles, “So be sure to grab a snack, kick back, and before you know it you’ll find yourself glued to your screen watching entertaining ads all the way to the bank!”
Entertaining ads. Riiiiiight. 
All the way to the bank, Riiiiiight.
“Points are awarded only after the ad is viewed in its entirety (between 5-30 seconds) … ”
But no worries, eh? You can just pretend you watched.
No. You can’t. It’s a timed test. Users have to key in the correct “confirmation code” within the “time allotted”.
BUT —- once you’ve jumped through the hoops, “the tune is yours”.
No need to stay tuned.
well-and-truly dead – Spiral Frog croaks its last croak, March 20, 2009
p2pnet – Ruckus bites the dust, February 9, 2009
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March 23rd, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Ok, will anybody from this company…. or ANY company please contact me?
I’m willing to put 50 to 1 odds that this is going to fail, money in escrow….
Come on “turnITup” morons, put your money where your mouth is.
1 dollar gets you 50 USD! Where can you get a better deal?