SpiralFrog, the music download service that plans to offer free songs supplemented by advertising revenue, has been losing management team members including CEO Robin Kent. So far, the company has lost its CEO, 10 board directors, and 5 company managers, according to CNET.

Mr. Kent was fired in late December, leaving employees wondering who was in charge of the company. Some executives that were still loyal to Mr. Kent stopped showing up for work, which prompted company founder Joe Mohen to send them letters saying he was assuming they had resigned.

One former manager commented "Nobody had any confidence in the leadership after Robin left."

SpiralFrog's infighting has left many in the music industry doubting if the company can take on Apple's iTunes Store. The company missed its 2006 launch date, has only signed on Universal and EMI, and imposes digital rights management requirements that many feel are too restricting.

The copy protection for downloaded songs prohibits them from playing on Macs, allows tracks to be copied to two MP3 player devices, but not the iPod or Microsoft's Zune, prohibits burning songs to CDs, forces users to wait 90 seconds before each song download, and requires them to update their music at the SpiralFrog Web site once a month.

SpiralFrog's management problems have likely scared off potential advertisers and partners, too. The former company manger added "The sad thing about the whole thing is that we were getting somewhere. We were looking at commitments from some major advertisers. We were well on our way to signing one other label and would have convinced the others once we generated an audience."