The Social.FM IM Artist Program was intended for independent artists and bands that want to increase promotion and publicity for their music. As members of the IM Artist Program, participating artists received: Five music channels webcasting to social.fm users worldwide A "Now Playing" profile with artist pictures, biography, and discography Website links to purchase CDs, merchandise, tickets, and more The ability to communicate with fans and listeners via artist forums and chat The IM Artist program was in beta and free. Social.FM Madwords Social.FM Madwords was a contextual advertising system that enabled advertisers to target text placements by artist or music genre. The text placements were displayed in the "Sponsored Links" section of a webpage upon a search for artist or genre (such as "Coldplay" or "Alternative"). In some ways, this system was similar to Google AdWords. Madwords enabled advertisers to sign up directly via a credit card and was priced on a pay per click (PPC) basis. Advertisers could create and upload their text ads, select their targeting criteria, set their budget and PPCs, and view statistics and reports via a password-protected webpage. Search boxes Social.FM search boxes enabled consumers to search and listen to music from websites and blogs. Website and blog operators could customize the search box to incorporate their desired color scheme, size, logo, and preferred artists. Consumers could search for artists and listen through a separate browser window. Music iFrames Social.FM Music iFrames enabled consumers to view a subset of songs available from a particular artist and click a song to listen. The list of songs was dynamically generated and updated every 60 seconds. There was also a 'more' option if the consumer desired to listen to a song that was not currently displayed within the Music iFrame. Clicking the 'more' button displayed a full list of songs available from a particular artist. Similar to Social.FM search boxes, website and blog operators could customize the Music iFrame to incorporate their desired color scheme, size, logo, and preferred artists. System requirements Social.FM required Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server and a broadband Internet connection. To support webcasting, audio files must be in Vorbis, MP3, or WMA formats. In 2006, Social.FM expected to migrate to a browser-based model which would enable support for the Mac and Linux platforms. See also AOL Radio, a similar service by Time-Warner. LAUNCHcast, a similar service by Yahoo! Music. MySpace, a social network by News