An interesting article from the BBC takes a look at how file-sharing web sites can actually make a music act more popular. In fact, the research cited in the article shows that the most-pirated songs tend to be those at the top of the charts.

Think of the potential impact of this on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). I remember the halcyon days of Napster and the likes, when you could go online and find songs from various artists (I even found Scruffy the Cat on Napster, not an easy task) and download as many as you want.

Well, when the RIAA and Metallica decided to wade into the fray -- sites like Napster were either summarily shut down or had to start charging for their services.

Billboard reported Thursday that MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) has launched a new campaign titled "Roots of Rock" that offers free downloads for cardholders from Universal Music Group. Apparently the free aspect of the campaign is limited and after 100,000 songs have been downloaded, MasterCard will begin to charge $0.80 per track. Even after the credit card company begins charging for downloads, pricing for tracks is still lower than Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)'s MP3 Store ($0.89) or Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s iTunes Store ($0.99).

Cardholders who also make a purchase by August 31 will be "entered into a sweepstakes with a grand prize of having a meet and greet with Jon Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton or Kenny Chesney." MasterCard executive Amy Fuller told Billboard with the new campaign, the company has "created unparalleled music experiences with three of the world's most popular artists, providing consumers with an intimate perspective on these icons that few fans will ever have." But those fans will have to win the sweepstakes.

MasterCard's campaign to offer free downloads is like numerous other programs that are linked with music companies, but it offers to take the digital market to a larger consumer base. Lowered prices (eventually) for the campaign mean that Universal Music Group will continue to hold on to the lead in music sales, if only because the music company is the only one on board with MasterCard. Consumers that might not have ever downloaded a track may be enticed to try out the campaign and the sweepstakes. This type of growth is what the music industry will need if digital sales are ever going to replace physical sales successfully and completely.

Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) will offer its music catalog online, for free listening. A start-up, Lala.com, wil be the portal through which consumers access the songs. Customers who want to download the music will pay $6.50 to $13.50 per album.

The new offer is very different from the approach being taken by most of the industry, lead by Apple (NASD:AAPL), which only allows customers to have access to entire songs for a fee. The new service will work with the iPod.

Lala is paying music companies money for each album, whether its is purchased or not, so the company says that it will lose money for some time.

Pricing for albums will be based on several factors including overall demand and and the content that a user already has in his or her music library.

While the new Lala.com program is novel, it appear to be more complex than a Rubik's Cube. That tends to make the prospects of success for most consumer products fairly low. But, good luck in the meantime.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.