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Top » Shopping » Recordings » Sound Files » Weed » Category Description

Weed files take the concept of shareware and apply it to music. Download, try, buy, then share. Fans are paid to share Weed files. Artists are paid for every sale. The name refers to music that "spreads like a weed". All sites listed are download sites for Weed files. Sites designated [ICP] are where artists go to get their music encoded into Weed format.

Weed offers a unique combination of features for fans and artists.

Fans:
Weed files may be burned to CD, downloaded to portable players or shared online. Half of the purchase price of a Weed file goes directly to the artist. If fans choose to share their Weed files, they receive comissions on any subsequent sales.

Artists:
Weed files are encrypted and the payment processing occurs at the user's computer. This makes it possible to sell music off of any website simply by posting the file for download. The encryption service is provided for free in return for a 15% cut of sales. Since there is no out-of-pocket expense, any artist can sell music online. A new twist is that 35% of gross sales go back to the fans who share the files. Artists keep 50% of each sale.

Additional information:
Weed is a service of Shared Media Licensing, Inc. (SML). The encryption, payment processing and user software (the Weed Media Activator) are provided by SML.

Independent Content Providers or ICPs are liasons between artists and SML. The ICPs work with artists to obtain clearances for the content, process the contracts, encode the files into the proper format, create the artist accounts at SML and submit the files for encoding. To assist artists wishing to submit content, ICP sites are noted in the listings.