Free, legal ad-supported MP3 downloads, and artists get paid

We7 is an innovative new music download community co-founded by Peter Gabriel. We7 will let you legally download free unlocked MP3s, and the artists get paid, thanks to their ad-supported model.

The We7 service works by dynamically 'grafting' ads onto the front of music tracks and albums based on a consumer's demographics such as location, age, gender and could even be extended to preferences. This allows advertisers to intimately engage with consumers ‘off web’ as they listen to the ad-embedded downloads.

All We7 music is DRM free so consumers can legally share and play tracks on any MP3 player, expanding the potential for advertisers to reach even more people as they share content. The ‘grafted’ ads change on sharing to match the consumer.

The revenue generated via advertising ensures artists receive royalties for making their songs available, whilst consumer will receive and share DRM-free music legitimately making it an attractive proposition for advertisers, artists and music fans alike.

If consumers want a track with no ad, there’s an option to buy the track at normal price, however if they want a track that is free, legal and their favourite artist gets rewarded, then We7 add a short advert. Ads don’t remain attached to the tracks forever - after a period of time users will have the choice to have the track ad free.

The website will also offer new artists more access to fans and the chance to earn royalties for their music provided it is good enough. Only if enough members of We7's TasteMaker community feel that a new band or artist deserves to be published will that artist 'win' the right to be downloaded thus ensuring the quality of music published.

Everybody who signs up to We7 can join the site's TasteMaker community and decide what's good and what's not. Bands will also be able to perform peer review of other bands.

Peter Gabriel, Musician and Founder Investor We7, comments: "We7 provides artists - even across the more experimental or minority genres - with the opportunity to build a new source of income from their music. Ad funded downloads are the way to provide free music to the consumer without depriving musicians of their livelihood."