PlayJ.com has inked a deal with Clive Davis’s J Records to promote the label’s new star attraction, R&B singer Olivia, along with several other musical acts.
PlayJ.com, the music division of multimedia play EverAd, will feature the newcomer’s first single “Bizounce” throughout its affiliate network of Web sites. The deal also calls for PlayJ.com to promote new singles from boy band O-Town.
“For Clive Davis’s label to endorse our product and become a partner with us on a variety of initiatives, including some ongoing, strategic marketing programs, is a big step forward for us,” said Doug Milles, EverAd’s VP of marketing and communications.
EverAd, a multimedia company that collects an advertising fee for song swapping, distributes MP3-like files for free the old-fashioned way: by inking licensing deals with the music labels such as J Records.
In the past year, PlayJ has also signed up GNP Crescendo Records, Tommy Boy, Priority Records, Spitfire Records and Danny Goldberg’s Artemis Records, along with exclusive music tracks from Wyclef Jean and JIVEjones.
By wrapping small banner ads into its music files, and splitting that revenue in equal parts among artists, labels, distributors and affiliates, EverAd has sidestepped the legal snares that have tangled Napster up in red tape.
Even so, Milles said that his company is cautious when it comes to the Napster dust-up.
“We try and take the high road on [the Napster] issue,” said Milles.
“We give audiences what they want, which is free music that’s ad-supported. We believe that by providing useful information on the [player’s] marquee, as well as advertising, that we’re making the user’s experience a positive one,” he said.
Milles added: “We feel that there are going to be several solutions for online music, and certainly one of them will be the ad-supported solution.”
