Buy It For a Song, But How Much Is The Song?
As you might have heard, independent rockers Radiohead released their new album In Rainbows lately. I've never been a super huge Radiohead fan but I'm diggin' on this album. It's holding up to multiple listenings and you can't beat the price.
Radiohead allows you to name your price for the downloaded album on their site. So if you are total cheapskate - or maybe just radiohead curious - and want to pay a $1, well go right ahead. Warning though, I was charged a transaction fee of about $0.45 and likely you will be too. Also be aware that many credit card companies don't actually allow charges of $0.01 (because criminals use that amount to test stolen cards).
I decided to pay $7 for the 10-song album, well under the 99 cent per song pricing found on iTunes, and less than half what I'd play for a CD. The mp3's are coded at 160 kbps which isn't the best but honestly isn't bad at all. Amazon charges 89 to 99 cents for DRM free tracks at a slightly better quality.
I suppose you've already read about this scheme in the New York Times, heard about it on Morning Edition, or Marketplace, or elsewhere.
What I didn't know, was the idea was not entirely novel. The Freakanomics blog (I recommend picking up the book at your library) at the New York Times informed me that an artist in Seattle has adopted the 'pay what you will' method for some time.
Radiohead allows you to name your price for the downloaded album on their site. So if you are total cheapskate - or maybe just radiohead curious - and want to pay a $1, well go right ahead. Warning though, I was charged a transaction fee of about $0.45 and likely you will be too. Also be aware that many credit card companies don't actually allow charges of $0.01 (because criminals use that amount to test stolen cards).
I decided to pay $7 for the 10-song album, well under the 99 cent per song pricing found on iTunes, and less than half what I'd play for a CD. The mp3's are coded at 160 kbps which isn't the best but honestly isn't bad at all. Amazon charges 89 to 99 cents for DRM free tracks at a slightly better quality.
I suppose you've already read about this scheme in the New York Times, heard about it on Morning Edition, or Marketplace, or elsewhere.
What I didn't know, was the idea was not entirely novel. The Freakanomics blog (I recommend picking up the book at your library) at the New York Times informed me that an artist in Seattle has adopted the 'pay what you will' method for some time.
Labels: music
posted by Natebot at
11:51 PM
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1 Comments:
Saul Williams did something similar with his new Trent Reznor joint ... wait for it ... The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! It's growing on me but, sheesh, what a title!
By
Tony, at 8:32 AM
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