No Wave Nightmare informed me of a pretty cool idea. Juliana Hatfield is offering up previously unreleased downloadable MP3s on her site. Here?s the (very reasonable) catch:
When a song is downloaded, you will have an option. You can decide that ownership of this song is your right and freely distribute the files to your friends and to the people who also think it’s their right, without payment. Or, you can support the artist who wrote and recorded this song and click the PAYPAL button to the right of the download link and send Juliana a contribution. The iTunes standard of $.99 may seem too high for you, in which case you can send $.50 – though there is virtually nothing else you can buy legally for $.50. Alternatively, you can think of the number of people with whom you might share this file and give a multiple of $.99.
If you don’t have a means by which you can use Paypal or if you’re opposed to the burgeoning online drain of your credt, feel free to send a dollar in the mail to Juliana at Fort Apache, 51 Village Square Bellows Falls, VT 05101
Will it work?
The response to this honor system download concept is inspiring. While we’re not tracking, specifically, all the people who just grabbed the files and ran, those of you who have pushed the Paypal button or mailed in payments have won our respect. You should be proud to be you and to have taken the time to support the arts in this little way. Every single payment means something – not out of desperation but because it demonstrates a kind of honesty and sense of integrity that all of us have probably come to question. That said, here are the next two songs from Juliana, Break Your Heart and Number One. We’ve learned now that purchasing the two songs with one payment directs more of the payment to Juliana and less to the company of Paypal. So now there’s one button but the same suggested price of $1.00 per song is appropriate. Those of you who sent more than a dollar are heroes and we’ll try to find some way to say thank you. Gratitude to everyone, regardless of contribution. If you have just stumbled upon this link, read on to learn about this experiment. Enjoy the music.
There are rumored to be about 50 unreleased songs that Juliana will make available. If this is a success it will be interesting to see if other artists follow suit.