a certain super hip band is releasing an album online this week. and they're no longer on a label. and you can pay what you want to download it. or buy an extra special version with lots of extra stuff. i paid six euro, which i think is about what an online album should cost, with most of the cash going to the artist. there are no distribution costs, no CD manufacturing costs, and this will be freely available and in infinite supply on bittorrent within minutes of release if not earlier. this at the same time a woman is sued for $220000 for sharing 24 songs. independent labels will always have a role in filtering and fostering music they actually love. these big labels need to wake up, stop filing ridiculous and unethical lawsuits and sell something in a way that makes people want to pay rather than take.
