Offspring's Next Album To Be Offered As Free Downloads

09/15/2000 5:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(9/15/00, 5 p.m. ET) - Southern California punk band the Offspring has taken matters into its own hands by offering its entire next album, Conspiracy Of One, as free downloads. The group will first make available the album's single, "Original Prankster," at its official website (offspring.com) on September 29, followed soon after by the complete album. The conventional release of Conspiracy Of One is due from Sony's Columbia Records on November 14.

Offspring will also award one fan participating in the download with $1 million, the prize coming directly from the members of the group. "This money came directly to us from our fans," says Offspring frontman Dexter Holland, in a statement. "We feel it would be cool to redirect it back to them. We are trying to launch our album with promotions that are fan supportive rather than fan exploitative. We feel that giving them our music and letting them have back some of their money is a great way to show how much they mean to us." The contest winner will be announced on MTV on November 14.

The announcement comes just days before Sony and other major labels begin the next round in court against the MP3 file-swapping service Napster over copyright infringements issues. The Los Angeles Times reports that Sony "has told Offspring to cancel the giveaway, describing the band's plan as a contractual violation."

In April, the Offspring stated its support for such technology on its website: "We have been very vocal about the spreading of MP3 files. We happen to be of the school of thought that it is nice to have more, not less, fans."

-- Neal Weiss, Los Angeles

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