You can do everything you're talking about right now at Fairtunes. You choose the band, choose an amount, type out a message to the artist, and charge it securely to your credit card. We aggregate the contributions, write the band a cheque, mail it c/o their management, and post the canceled cheque on the web when it clears.
I'm done now.
John Cormie (jcormie@fairtunes.com)
So you buy the album, basically, because you don't have an MP3 player in your car. In the next year, though, portable MP3 players will come into a price and capacity range where EVERYBODY will have one. So will you still buy the album then? Why?
It's easy to predict the upcoming death of physical media distribution. The only reason that remains to actually go buy the CD is to support the artist/band. But, anyone who knows anything about the music industry is aware that the people behind the actual music, (not the distribution, which, remember, you don't need anymore) hardly see any of your retail record store dollar.
My friend and I have started a company where you can actually pay the artist for their work directly. Basically, you download MP3s as usual, decide on what you are willing to pay for, then send the band what you feel is appropriate using our service. We write them a check and report back to you when it gets cashed.
... continue to buy CDs even if grudgingly because some people think
the artists should get money even if it is just a meager piece of the pie.
Today I grudgingly purchased 4 CDs. I seldom purchase music, but in spite of the
record company, I want to show my support for the artists...
There is a more efficient way to compensate artists than "grudgingly" purchasing CDs and effectively delivering to them less than 10% of the retail price. As you know, most of the money you pay at the record store goes to distribution and middle men's services that, ironically, because of filesharing, broadband and audio compression, you didn't even use. The music retail establishment is a good distribution mechanism for people without highspeed internet, but a very poor way to deliver money to creator, if you already have instant access to the content.
We started fairtunes.com to address this exact problem. Quite simply, we deliver contributions you make by paypal or credit card directly to any artist you specify. Have a look!
Slashdot Mirror
Shameless, shameless Fairtunes.com plug:
You can do everything you're talking about right now at Fairtunes. You choose the band, choose an amount, type out a message to the artist, and charge it securely to your credit card. We aggregate the contributions, write the band a cheque, mail it c/o their management, and post the canceled cheque on the web when it clears. I'm done now. John Cormie (jcormie@fairtunes.com)
I will start out paying CDs once fairtunes.com (or whoever else) impliment a good system,
Could you elaborate a bit? What improvements would you like to see?
John Cormie
Co-founder
fairtunes.com
Whoops: www.fairtunes.com
So you buy the album, basically, because you don't have an MP3 player in your car. In the next year, though, portable MP3 players will come into a price and capacity range where EVERYBODY will have one. So will you still buy the album then? Why?
It's easy to predict the upcoming death of physical media distribution. The only reason that remains to actually go buy the CD is to support the artist/band. But, anyone who knows anything about the music industry is aware that the people behind the actual music, (not the distribution, which, remember, you don't need anymore) hardly see any of your retail record store dollar.
My friend and I have started a company where you can actually pay the artist for their work directly. Basically, you download MP3s as usual, decide on what you are willing to pay for, then send the band what you feel is appropriate using our service. We write them a check and report back to you when it gets cashed.
Have a look: http://www.fairtunes.com
There is a more efficient way to compensate artists than "grudgingly" purchasing CDs and effectively delivering to them less than 10% of the retail price. As you know, most of the money you pay at the record store goes to distribution and middle men's services that, ironically, because of filesharing, broadband and audio compression, you didn't even use. The music retail establishment is a good distribution mechanism for people without highspeed internet, but a very poor way to deliver money to creator, if you already have instant access to the content.
We started fairtunes.com to address this exact problem. Quite simply, we deliver contributions you make by paypal or credit card directly to any artist you specify. Have a look!
John Cormie