Winwood: Roll With P2P, Baby

In the past month, Winwood's label has seen a noticeable increase in record sales thanks to a promotion that included releasing a free song and video over file-trading services. The campaign was part of an experiment in whether peer-to-peer can be used to create buzz around an artist and drive up sales.

Winwood's independent record label, Wincraft Music, said sales of About Time have sold up to eight times the number of records in some regions since June 15 when an audio file of one track, Dear Mr. Fantasy, made its way on to peer-to-peer networks. At the same time, a video of Winwood performing the song live and another video of a rehearsal were distributed on Limewire, eDonkey and RazorPop. The album has also been promoted through television commercials.

The Recording Industry Association of America declined to comment.