This is an interesting idea.
You know how software normally comes out with several beta versions (pre-releases) before the official product is launched? What if musicians did the same thing? For a price, you can get key demos of songs in progress sent to you in almost real time from the band. The feeding frenzy over the Radiohead leak (and others) show there is high interest for such a thing.
This works, of course, only if the early-release versions are indeed different from what’s on the final CD. But it can work; some bands have fans so intense that they’ll pay for a chance to come along for the ride as a record is developed. Just as in software development, there would often be new “beta builds” of CD tracks, but only those with significant new features or fixes would be released to the general public. Performers could thereby release early material only when it’s ready and still ensure that the music would be available before it could be distributed illegally. That’s a way for them to accept the inevitable — early Net distribution — but still maintain control. (full story)
You could even go one step further with this. Bands could send MP3s during this process and when the real album comes out these subscribers could get a special 2-disc limited edition of the album, one disc being the demos.
I’d pay for that. You probably would too. Let us discuss, together.