Spiral Frog croaks its last croak
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- ”The SpiralFrog corporate `p2p` service, yet another corporate attempt to milk online music lovers, appears to be croaking.
“It wobbled onto the scene late last summer offering, with Vivendi Universal`s support, a, ’secure environment where music lovers can satisfy their unyielding passion and thirst for music, entertainment, and information’,” said a p2pnet post from a couple of years back.
But now, thankfully, Spiral Frog really has ribbited its last ribbit.
It boasted it was entirely supported by advertising, allowing free download of its music.
That’s corporate free, not free free. There IS a difference.
“After a pretty severe executive shakeup, and too much media coverage to save face with its delayed launch late last year, many speculated that SpiralFrog would never happen,” said Mashable a couple of years back.
“With the ad-supported model, which shows ads while you wait for your music to download, many speculate that SpiralFrog won`t be successful either.”
And they were correct.
SpiralFrog paid Universal Music Group Big Bucks for its offerings, and all to no avail.
“A source close to the company told CNET News that SpiralFrog has ceased operations and assets have been surrendered to creditors,” says CNET News.
“To keep operations going last year, the company issued secured notes in order to borrow at least $9 million from several hedge funds and others.”
SpiralFrog representatives weren’t, “immediately available for comment.”
That noise you hear is investors chewing their shorts.
p2pnet - Is SpiralFrog about to croak?, January 24, 2007
Mashable - SpiralFrog to Offer Free (Legal) Music Downloads This Year, August 7, 2007
CNET News - Requiem for a frog: SpiralFrog shuts down, March 19, 2009
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March 20th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
battle star galactica finale that would have had portions of its tickets goto the daily food bred has been killed by unniversal
furthar proof that the labels are evil and would let you starve instead a sharing a single dollar with a homeless or poor person
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3767/196/
March 20th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Anyone who invested in a “p2p technology” that was supported by vivendi should have their head examined. Really.
Vivendi is one of the major detractors from p2p technologies. Why would anyone think they could succeed? Moreover, think that they could succeed enough to be worth investing in? Incredible.
March 20th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
too bad they didn’t take crazy frog away with their spiral frog
March 20th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I did make some use of Spiral frog, my wife’s retort to me was, “why don’t you just use Frostwire??” well maybe I will, than again that Qtrax thing may launch soon globally???? if i could only use frostwire w/out getting that nasy fake bill clinton file . . . .
March 21st, 2009 at 10:42 am
Spiralfrog illustrates exactly what’s wrong with the current system, and why the “pirates” really can’t help but win this one:
1. Anybody who thinks that “downloads == lost sales” (the standard industry talking-point) should really consider whether that’s true, because if it IS true, then Spiralfrog represented nothing less than the labels cutting their own throats. I mean, to use their own ‘logic’ against them, “why would anybody pay when they can get it for free?”
If they were correct with this objection, you’d expect to see at least a REALLY serious drop in album sales, when a “free” version was offered on Spiralfrog. Did it happen? I’m pretty sure it didn’t, because their still issuing gold records and indulging in all the usual MAFIAA-sanctioned self-congratulation as per usual.
So they’ve basically conceded the first point usually raised by p2p-advocates (namely, that downloads and “available for free” does not translate to ‘lost sales’, so much as “really easy advertising.”
2. Spiralfrog also demonstrates why people don’t like DRM-’protected’ (hobbled) formats: even the most non-techie understands that digital and analog are different, and that one of the big advantages to digital is easy duplication. DRM represents an inherently faulty attempt to make digital media “behave” like analog media (by, for example, forcibly binding the information to a particular plastic disc or suchlike, by introducing an extra layer of ‘licensing’ bullshit.)
People don’t like that, and the media companies know this. Actually, the corporatocracy is trapped by it’s own methods: in order to remain profitable, they have to aggressively hype the “next big thing” (which is portable media players). But in order for those players to actually be worth buying, they can’t afford to attempt “vendor lock-in” too often, or they risk pissing off formerly-docile consumers, and essentially turning people onto the p2p and “piracy” thing. I mean, come on — the minute they offer the first “freebie”, they’ve conceeded the whole thing. Thus, nobody in their right mind would continue to have any serious qualms about getting a “free version’ that’s NOT broken and hobbled with DRM, even if they have to use REAL p2p networks to do so.
3. The last thing that’s really kinda funny about Spiralfrog and stuff like this is how — yet again — the RIAA’s backers feel the need to cobble together a fake version of what’s (supposedly) killing them:
They did this with Napster and mp3.com.
Spiralfrog may not have co-opted an existing brand, but the fact that the MAFIAA even allowed something like it is revealing in itself:
They’ve always known that their anti-p2p propaganda, relentless whoring for longer copyright terms, and other assorted bullshit makes no sense. Spiralfrog (poor attempt that it is) demonstrates that they also understand the “try before you buy” mentality, and that trying vaninly to “monetize” each and every use to which one’s “content” is put can only end badly.
In short, they understand full well that they’ve lost, and they never actually had a leg to stand on in the first place.
It’s also pretty revealing that Imesh still exists, Rhapsody allows “streaming for free” (even in as limited a fashion as it does.) etc.
THIS is why I keep saying we need to be able to think on a “bigger” scale than the other side.
Sorry for the long post, but hey…stuff to think about.
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:44 am
I have actually used Spiralfrog a fair bit… of course it is only because I discovered very quickly I could strip off the DRM with readily available tools, so long as I hadn’t upgraded to Media Player 11. So strip off DRM and batch process into MP3 or AAC for my iPod and I’m rolling. Often there were interesting compilations on Spiralfrog which I couldn’t find elsewhere. Plus a few iTunes exclusive releases showed up there quickly too. Of course, stripping the DRM defeats their purposes, but it suited mine just great! Sad to see Spiralfrog disappear!