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Watch ads, download songs for free

By TIMES STAFF and TIMES WIRES
Published August 30, 2006

Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company, has agreed to make its entire library of songs available for free Internet download as long as consumers watch advertisements while downloading tunes.

The experiment between Universal Music and New York-based SpiralFrog marks a significant shift for an industry that has long sought to force people to pay for music.

SpiralFrog will allow consumers to download any Universal Music song free of charge, as long as they watch one 90-second advertisement per song. Video downloads will require viewing a 120-second ad. Additionally, users must log on to the Web site once a month and watch additional ads to keep the tunes.

In return, users can listen to songs, ad-free, as many times as desired on a computer, portable music player or music-enabled cell phone.

The 90-second download is significantly longer than the 15 to 20 seconds it takes to download a ditty from iTunes, where songs cost 99 cents. SpiralFrog thinks that young consumers will be attracted to its slower-but-free model.

Liberty Mutual to drop 5,000 Florida policies

In a move likely to affect many homeowners in the Tampa Bay area, Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., the eighth-largest property insurer in Florida, said Tuesday it will not renew about 5,000 policies statewide.

The Boston-based company said the policies affected are primarily for homes located within 5 miles of the coast that do not meet 1994 building code requirements. Liberty Mutual insures about 120,000 Florida homeowners, including about 30,000 in the Tampa Bay area.

Liberty Mutual joins a growing list of private insurers that are shedding policies in high-risk areas. Allstate Floridian, the state's second-largest private insurer, said in May it was dropping 174,000 policyholders, including about 17,000 in the Tampa Bay area.

Naples bank holding company to acquire Fort Myers rival

Bancshares of Florida Inc. of Naples will acquire Old Florida Bankshares Inc. of Fort Myers, the two bank holding companies said Tuesday. Old Florida's bank subsidiary, Old Florida Bank, will become part of Bancshares' subsidiary, Bank of Florida-Southwest.

The deal will give Bancshares nearly $1.2-billion in assets. The transaction has been approved by the boards of each company, subject to regulatory approval.

Ernesto's path pushes oil prices below $70

Oil prices fell sharply for the second straight day Tuesday, dipping below $70 a barrel as Tropical Storm Ernesto veered away from the oil and gas region of the Gulf of Mexico.

"A lot of people were banking on an active tropical (storm) season and so far it has been nonexistent in relation to platforms in the Gulf of Mexico," said James Cordier, president of Liberty Trading in Tampa.

Light sweet crude for October delivery fell 96 cents to $69.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The fall extended a $1.90 drop Monday, leaving oil futures roughly 10 percent below their level of just three weeks ago.

FBI looking into fraud allegations against painter

The FBI is investigating allegations that self-styled "Painter of Light" Thomas Kinkade and some of his top executives fraudulently induced investors to open galleries and then ruined them financially, according to former dealers contacted by agents.

The criminal inquiry focuses on the same issues raised in civil litigation by at least six former Thomas Kinkade Signature Gallery owners. Those ex-owners alleged, among other things, that the artist known for his dreamily luminous landscapes and street scenes used his Christian faith to persuade them to invest in the independently owned stores, which must sell Kinkade's work exclusively.

Kinkade spokesman Jim Bryant said Monday that the company was unaware of a criminal investigation and had not been contacted by the FBI or U.S. attorney's office.

[Last modified August 30, 2006, 00:45:48]