No Doubt Gives Its Music Away, Sort Of

— -- In a further sign that some in the music industry are caving into the file sharing credo "music is free," No Doubt is giving away its entire music catalog as part of a promotion for its 2009 Summer tour.

 

To qualify for the music giveaway, you must spend $15 to become a member of No Doubt's Tour Club (space is limited). As part of this exclusive club you get the chance to buy up to 4 "prime tickets," to the summer tour, and as an added bonus, tour club members get to download the band's entire digital audio catalog once per ticket purchased. The download also includes their new cover version of the Adam and Ants' "Stand and Deliver".

The sign-up page on the band's Web site doesn't specify what "entire digital audio catalog" means, but presumably it includes all six of the band's albums plus its retrospective "The Singles: 1992-2003." This is a fascinating way to promote the band's tour, and is the second time we've seen a band giveaway its entire music catalog in recent weeks.

Last month, another 90s sensation--the Presidents of the United States of America--came out with an iPhone application where fans could stream PUSA's entire music catalog over a Wi-Fi connection. With No Doubt jumping in with a similar giveaway, it seems, with 90s bands anyway, that a trend is developing. It will be interesting to see what the reaction will be to No Doubt's giveaway, and whether the downloads will be copy protected or not. Regardless, it's a very creative away of dealing with the reality of file sharing while still incorporating music into a business plan. Free music may not bode well with the record companies, but the fans are sure to like it, no doubt.