A new way to think about music?
If you're like most computer-savvy techies, you've come
across the ethical dilemma surrounding digital music.
I know at least one recording artist who has said to me, "Do you want to go down and pick up my new CD so I can get a quarter, or would you prefer to see if it's on LimeWire yet?"
The sad truth is that the status quo with music recording is that the majority of the sales price of an album goes to the record label or producer, not the artist.
Online music circumvents some of these problems, but the disparity between label and artist still exists. Plus, as Sarah has discovered, DRM (Digital Rights Management) can be quite a headache for the end user and can limit the freedom that a user has over his or her music collection.
A solution to this connundrum can be found at Magnatune.com. Their motto is "We're a record label, but we're not evil." More than a little Google-esque, but that's okay.
This is the deal. You can listen to every song on the album in its entirety in a streaming MP3 format. Like "try before you buy" for digital music. Then, if you like what you hear, you can buy the album for whatever price you like, between 5 dollars to the full 15 dollars. (The recommended price is eight dollars.) This price is split 50/50 between the artist and the label. The artist makes more money per album sale, the consumer pays less, and since the label doesn't have to invest all the money in stamping, packing, and shipping albums (not to mention heavy advertising expenses) the extra cost can be shaved from the label's typical cut and Magnatune can still make profits!
You can then download DRM free music in FLAC or WAV format, so you can burn it to a CD without any loss of quality. Plus, if you change computers, you don't have a ton of DRM limitations to work through.
They also have a few internet radio mixes:
I enjoy Falling You, Ehren Starks, Jag, Shiva in Exile, and the Drop Trio to name a few. Check them out.
I know at least one recording artist who has said to me, "Do you want to go down and pick up my new CD so I can get a quarter, or would you prefer to see if it's on LimeWire yet?"
The sad truth is that the status quo with music recording is that the majority of the sales price of an album goes to the record label or producer, not the artist.
Online music circumvents some of these problems, but the disparity between label and artist still exists. Plus, as Sarah has discovered, DRM (Digital Rights Management) can be quite a headache for the end user and can limit the freedom that a user has over his or her music collection.
A solution to this connundrum can be found at Magnatune.com. Their motto is "We're a record label, but we're not evil." More than a little Google-esque, but that's okay.
This is the deal. You can listen to every song on the album in its entirety in a streaming MP3 format. Like "try before you buy" for digital music. Then, if you like what you hear, you can buy the album for whatever price you like, between 5 dollars to the full 15 dollars. (The recommended price is eight dollars.) This price is split 50/50 between the artist and the label. The artist makes more money per album sale, the consumer pays less, and since the label doesn't have to invest all the money in stamping, packing, and shipping albums (not to mention heavy advertising expenses) the extra cost can be shaved from the label's typical cut and Magnatune can still make profits!
You can then download DRM free music in FLAC or WAV format, so you can burn it to a CD without any loss of quality. Plus, if you change computers, you don't have a ton of DRM limitations to work through.
They also have a few internet radio mixes:
I enjoy Falling You, Ehren Starks, Jag, Shiva in Exile, and the Drop Trio to name a few. Check them out.
