Burn free.

BurnLounge Inc., the digital download service that operated as a multilevel marketing outfit, is now offering access to its content without subscription fees.

It has also posted its catalog of independent music titles in MP3 format, including music from leading independent digital distributors Orchard, Ioda, Iris and Big Fish.

The Los Angeles company, which combines iTunes-type music downloads and eBay-style retailing with traditional multi-level marketing, has more than 60,000 users who sell music for download, and the retailers share commissions with those who enlisted them.

Until now, subscription fees ranged from $30 to about $500, based upon how elaborate the customer or merchant chose to go. With the new setup, consumers can open up their own personalized digital download store at no cost. Premium sales packages still carry a price tag of more than $400, however.

BurnLounge still makes money, of course, through the paid content downloads from other labels, as well as through the sales of higher-level premium packages and content upgrades for the individual user/retailers that operate the online stores.

Participating artists receive between 50 percent and 70 percent of the revenue generated by sales of their songs. Of the remainder, BurnLounge corporate takes 40 percent while the retailer who sold the song gets 60 percent. Retailers must give 20 percent of their take to their recruiter. The recruiter must pay a percentage of his take to the one who recruited him.

BurnLounge has also launched Burn Pages--a free social networking component for users to interact with one another. Future content will be ad-supported, though details are still in the works. Current members include the likes of NBA stars Shaquille O'Neal and Steve Nash, as well as NASCAR driver Danica Patrick.