Music Ally

UK newspaper The Times has come up with a new spin on music giveaways. Tomorrow’s edition claims to be the first ever to give away a complete album on iTunes.

Its magazine supplement will have an iTunes card, allowing readers to download five tracks from the band’s new live album – which isn’t out until 26th October – and five of their classic hits (including Losing My Religion and Man On The Moon).

Newspapers have been keen to use music as a promotional tool in recent times, although more often with bundled CDs rather than digital downloads. The Times is launching a microsite too featuring band interviews. It’s part of a wider iTunes promotion – more free tracks from other artists will be given away with the paper over the course of next week.

At the recent Resonancia Colombia conference in Bogota, co-organised by Music Ally and the British Council, REM manager Bertis Downs gave a keynote interview, questioned by our own Paul Brindley. Watch the video above to see what he had to say on digital music and emerging business models. “One of the first things I’ll say is nobody knows anything…”