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A model in online music shopping
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Mastrap
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Nov 28, 2005, 08:43 AM
 
http://www.janesiberry.com/


Regardless of whether her music is to your personal taste, this is a right way to treat your fans.

Purloined from boingboing:

Canadian chanteuse Jane Siberry has created an online music store that's a model of how artists can capitalize on the goodwill of their fans to line their pocketbooks and disseminate their music. Her store sells non-DRMed MP3s and encourages fans to spread the word.
EFF's Fred von Lohmann has a sterling review of Siberry's store:

Her new download store, recently unveiled at her site, is a model of what the music downloading world could be. All of her songs are available as plain MP3s, which means they will play on your iPod and are not loaded with DRM restrictions (much less evil rootkits).
And you pay whatever you like for them. Yes, you set whatever price you like. Options include:

* free ("gift from Jane");
* a standard price (CAN$0.99);
* self-determined price - pay now; or
* self-determined price - pay later (to facilitate try-before-you-buy).

When you purchase the song, moreover, you can select up to 5 people to whom you can email a link to the song.

I just saw her perform in concert here in SF, and she summed it up this way: "I want to treat people the way I'd like to be treated. I don't like being treated like a child, so I won't be doing that to other people."

Siberry doesn't have rights in all jurisdictions -- in some parts of the world, she can't sell this stuff. But rather than tying your location to your credit-card billing address (I live in London, am presently in Uganda, pay taxes in Canada and have several cards billed in San Francisco), Jane lets her fans simply state where they reside. This is really stupendous -- the gold standard for a digital artist's business.
     
Doofy
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Nov 28, 2005, 10:31 AM
 
Roughly translated: Nobody was buying her records so she decided to go with a loss-leader.
Been inclined to wander... off the beaten track.
That's where there's thunder... and the wind shouts back.
     
Mastrap  (op)
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Nov 28, 2005, 10:36 AM
 
She's critically acclaimed, she's been in the business for a decade or so and while she's no superstar she makes a good living out of a dedicated fan base.

Why the **** does absolutely everything have to be so negative with you? Is that just a character trait of yours or is it the equivalent of the, online, black leather jacket wearer, sulking in the corner?

Lighten up, Frances.
     
production_coordinator
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Nov 28, 2005, 10:54 AM
 
A model in online music shopping?

I would say that this works for her, but it may not work for the entire music industry. What is the difference between "try before you buy" and what Napster was originally?
     
Mastrap  (op)
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Nov 28, 2005, 11:03 AM
 
Originally Posted by production_coordinator
A model in online music shopping?

I would say that this works for her, but it may not work for the entire music industry. What is the difference between "try before you buy" and what Napster was originally?

What she does:

No DRM of any kind. Meaning she ( I am using that term to include her management team) realizes that sharing music is leading to higher sales.

She gives people the option to:

1. Pay nothing
2. Pay the recommended retail price
3. Pay what they think the music is worth before having listened to it.
4. Download the music, listen to it, and then pay what they think it's worth.

And to answer your question, Napster, originally, was an illegal file sharing network, not an artist run shop. This is the way forward for independent artists, selling music to people who are fed up with the music industry, root kits, DRM, licenses etc.
     
ShotgunEd
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Nov 28, 2005, 11:08 AM
 
I'm not believing this girl is a model until i see pics.

on a related note, fair play (pun intended) to her.

My band always made our non-DRMed mp3s available on the site for free, with the option to pay if you like.

We made our money from gigging anyways, the recordings were effectively promo.
     
Doofy
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Nov 28, 2005, 11:16 AM
 
Originally Posted by Mastrap
She's critically acclaimed, she's been in the business for a decade or so and while she's no superstar she makes a good living out of a dedicated fan base.
She makes money only from touring, you mean. There's almost no money in CD sales these days for marginal artistes. And she'd quite like to thin her touring schedule because she's getting to the stage where she wants to spend time at home with the kids and/or have kids. ...So needs to expand her sales somehow.

This was good thinking on her part, because she's one of the first to do it (playing on the current hatred of DRM and the RIAA). As soon as everyone else starts doing it her sales will be back to normal.

Originally Posted by Mastrap
Why the **** does absolutely everything have to be so negative with you? Is that just a character trait of yours or is it the equivalent of the, online, black leather jacket wearer, sulking in the corner?
Here's some advice I gave to a new, unheard-of artiste a few months ago:

Record your first two albums on the cheap, concentrating on making them the best you can with limited gear. Release for free on the 'net (on a web site and posted frequently on Usenet). By the time you're writing your third album, your name should be sufficiently known to allow you to start thinking about some kind of commercial deal.
There ya go.
Been inclined to wander... off the beaten track.
That's where there's thunder... and the wind shouts back.
     
Mastrap  (op)
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Nov 28, 2005, 11:49 AM
 
Well, that's good advice if you actually want a 'commercial' deal. More and more artists are taking back control from the record companies and are going it by themselves. How successful this will be needs to be judged on an individual basis, but generally I applaud them.
     
   
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