The first time that Philadelphia musician Jeff O'Corbett saw a TV ad for Apple iTunes' digital download program, he said "Well, it's about time this happened."

For years, the 49-year-old O'Corbett struggled to find a way to get his original music straight to the people, without going through recording companies or song publishers. He looked for a simple way to sell music over the Internet, but couldn't find easy payment and download systems.

Now, O'Corbett is selling his original songs on eBay for 99-cents apiece. He's one of three approved sellers in a digital download pilot program that eBay rolled out this summer. Approved sellers either have to own the rights to the songs or have contractual permission to resell the songs. Buyers can't turn around and resell the songs they just bought. O'Corbett records "new oldies" - "'50s songs you've never heard" in his apartment in Philadelphia, with titles like Doo Wop Party and Rockabilly Man.

"If you're a baby boomer and you like oldies, and you find my site, I guarantee you I'm going to sell a song," O'Corbett said. "eBay has the traffic. I should be selling them like crazy."

The first month, O’Corbett sold 27 songs. But it dropped off precipitously after that. He figures he's sold 35 songs in three months. O'Corbett says that's because his eBay listings are buried. They don't turn up in the usual list of song genres. A shopper has to click around to find the link to digital downloads, and then find Jeff O's Retro music.

"This is a pilot program and they are not going to lengths to promote it," O'Corbett said. "Hopefully, they will eventually expand the genre listings."

eBay spokesman Hani Durzy said the company is still collecting information about the pilot project - slated to run through January - to see if it is successful.

Despite disappointing sales, O'Corbett says the experiment has been worthwhile, from a technological standpoint. After becoming what he calls a "self-taught webmaster," he hit on the right combination to make it easy for customers to get his music. He tried several payment systems before integrating PayPal and Payloadz (http://www.payloadz.com) to eBay's system. Using a flash applet, he posts 30-second sound bites of his songs, which require no player, so people can listen before buying. After purchasing through the familiar PayPal page, eBay buyers then get an email with a Payloadz link where they can download the original song over the next 48 hours.

Each song costs 99 cents. O'Corbett says PayPal takes a 34-cent transaction fee. eBay, he said, takes another 5 cents per file. His net profit is about 60 cents per song.

"Is it worth it? Yeah!" O'Corbett said. "On Apple iTunes, by the time they get done paying the transaction fee and the royalties to the artist, they figure they make 4 to 7 cents per song. I'm making a couple hundred percent more than they are making."

In September, iHoopla, a digital download music store for independent artists, started selling on eBay. iHoopla will sell anyone's original music. iHoopla shares revenue with artists 50-50. Unlike record companies, artists who use iHoopla retain the rights to their songs and are free to sell to other sites.

http://stores.ebay.com/Jeff-Os-Retro-Music

Updated on 12/7/04