Why I’m Choosing To Let You Name Your Price to Download My Music
October 8, 2009
When asked about the name-your-price model of selling downloads, Trent Reznor said, “Asking people what they think music is worth devalues music…This is your art! This is your life! It has a value and you the artist are not putting that power in the hands of the audience.”
We’re in rocky territory here.
On one hand, I agree with Trent. This is my music. I’ve poured my soul into it and it is valuable. I deserve your dollars.
On the other hand, I trust my listener. As bandcamp points out on their blog, often pay-what-you-like models can elicit more money out of downloaders than fixed prices.
And if that ends up not being the case… meh. In a changing and turbulent music industry, when it is common for CDs to be shared amongst friends and I can give you my whole music collection in 5 minutes via external hard drive, I would prefer that people at least visit my website if they’re going to steal my music.
And as an up and coming artist, I want people to have it. I want my recent release to be an investment that boosts sales for my future releases.
But… the reality is that I really need money now. I’ve tried all sorts of ways around it, but yeah… money is necessary. So I am hoping that people will pay for their downloads.
