Paying For Music? Name Your Price! (The Problems)

[Johnny Scumm]

Amanda Palmer's Bandcamp

The above is a link to the Bandcamp Site of Amanda Palmer, former lead singer of Dresden Dolls, now a solo artist touring with the "Grand Theft Orchestra". Yesterday, through her Bandcamp, I downloaded 3 Albums (34 Songs), for less than $3 (£2). There were two reasons for this;

• There's no way that I'd have enough money to buy all three albums at the usual iTunes/Store Price, which is around £9.99 in the UK.
• Amanda Palmer's Bandcamp has a "Name Your Price" for each album, the lowest price usually being $1. Some are free, but in the world of "Name Your Price", it's difficult to bring yourself to pay more.

Now, after buying all of this music yesterday, something didn't feel right. I thought that I hadn't paid enough, but I knew that I had reasons to pay the low price that I did. In the end, I tweeted Amanda (@amandapalmer if you want to check this out), telling her that I had bought her music & didn't feel that I had enough, the following is what came from it.

@AmandaPalmer @RobL94 That's fine

@amandapalmer 19h

@RobL94 do me a a favor instead, and share the songs you like the most with other people. that's often worth more in the long run. x

I then asked her if there was anyway that I could give her some money for the albums in the future, when I could afford it, and she replied;

@amandapalmer 19h

@RobL94 a lot of people ask me this. you can ALWAYS donate randomly on the blog. button's at the bottom. http://bit.ly/blog060113

So, coming out of it, even though I had paid a small amount for a musician's work, she didn't seem to be fussed in the slightest. However, what she thought was better, was for me to share the songs that I liked the most with people, just like you guys on WZ. (See below).

Here come the questions;

What are your thoughts on "Name Your Price" music online?
What price would you pay for an album online if you were able to choose?
Is it better to share music with people when you pay a low price, in the hope that they also pay for the music?

Thanks for answering. Now, Amanda Palmer asked me to share some of her music with you (Hey, you might go buy it!), so here's a few of my favourite songs.

-----------------------------------------------------

[YOUTUBE]OZaR_4us6Ec[/YOUTUBE]

Ukulele Anthem - Amanda Palmer

[YOUTUBE]1ogNJkXGd0w[/YOUTUBE]

Creep (Radiohead Cover) - Amanda Palmer

[YOUTUBE]XO212ibBDTM[/YOUTUBE]

The Killing Type - Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra

[YOUTUBE]8C17yfGyJjM[/YOUTUBE]

Oasis - Amanda Palmer.

Finally, Amanda Palmer gave this amazing TED talk, on the Art of Asking, which happens to link in with the paying for music that I've just mentioned. If you have the time, it'd be great if you watched it.

[YOUTUBE]xMj_P_6H69g[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Slice]

I like the idea, mainly because I feel that you should only pay for stuff you want. For so long, you've had to pay for a whole album and if you only like 2 songs, you're paying for a bunch of other songs you don't necessarily want. We've even gotten used to this, but it's kind of weird.

I think the name your price idea is also a good way to get your music out to people who wouldn't normally buy your album; if you can make another fan, do it!

Anyways, how much I'd be willing to pay depends on the album. If I really like it I wouldn't even mind paying more than the CD would cost.