Interview: We7 talks ad-funded streaming (and the downturn)

UK-based ad-funded music service We7 is launching officially today, emerging from its beta period with a high-profile Big Listen marketing campaign.Although the company still offers ad-funded downloads, its emphasis has shifted towards streaming, with deals with all four major labels and various independents, and a catalogue expected to be nudging four million tracks by the end of this year.We caught up with CEO Steve Purdham to get his take on the launch, the downloads v streaming debate, and what impact the expected advertising downturn might have on services like We7. See below to read what he had to say.You're kicking off with the Big Listen campaign. What's that about?The We7 model is ad-funded music – as much music as you want for nothing, but the artist is still getting paid. But for that to work properly, you have to have the music that people want. The Big Listen is basically about that message – 'unlimited access to as much music as you want'.We've got deals with all the majors and an increasing number of independents, and we're adding 30,000 tracks a day, so we'll end up with three to four million by Christmas.Are the majors as up for this as [...]