Megabox is mostly just an extension of the Megaupload service. You can even login with your normal Megaupload username and password. At the same time, it is focused on music. And not just storing and retrieving music, but also promoting and selling it.
Megabox offers services similar to what you find in offerings from Apple, Amazon, and Google. You can look up information about artists, albums, and songs and upload your own MP3s to your locker.
You can also buy songs through Megabox. For the moment they are relying on partnerships with Amazon and 7digital to sell music. Certainly the major labels aren't about to enter into licensing agreements with them.
But of course that's nothing revolutionary. You can already get a music locker and buy songs online. The more interesting part is what's planned for the future.
In a guest post for TorrentFreak, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom explained that they will be partnering with artists to sell music directly - with 90% of the proceeds going directly to the artist. He even promises a system to pay artists for free downloads.
He claims that was the real reason for Universal Music's recent campaign against the Mega Song, which was temporarily taken down from YouTube via an improper UMG request nearly two weeks ago.
UMG, he says, is really just afraid of Megaupload as a competitor. He wrote:
Dinosaur labels don?t have the answers to today?s new realities. UMG chose to willfully sabotage our campaign instead of analyzing the situation and seeing that the answers to all their problems are right in front of them.
In parallel UMG were calling up all the artists who endorsed us telling them that they are endorsing piracy. That they are working with a convicted felon. That they are losing money because of us. They are trying to force the artists to issue statements against their endorsements and agreements. They are burning their own talents. And I wouldn?t be surprised if some of them fold under this enormous pressure.
Dotcom isn't afraid of competition from labels though, at least not for attracting customers. What he worries about is legislation like SOPA and PIPA being used to prop up legacy businesses by censoring the Internet:
Mega has nothing to fear. Our business is legitimate and protected by the DMCA and similar laws around the world. We work with the best lawyers and play by the rules. We take our legal obligations seriously. Mega?s war chest is full and we have strong supporters backing us. We have been online for 7 years and we are here to stay, so no need to worry about us.
But you should be worried that these guys might be successful with SOPA or PIPA or any other legal tool for Internet dictatorship.
Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 22 Dec 2011 15:57
