ARTISTS : MEET THE FUTURE...

In the latest blow against the so-called "major labels", the much hyped release by Saul Williams/Trent Reznor, has built and improved upon the Radiohead model. While it certainly and by no means the only way to go, commercially, it looks like THE leading contender for a viable, working model in the future of independent artist music distribution.

While the industry remains so far out of touch , they may finally have no other choice but to answer the call if they wish to remain relevant.

The truth is, from an independent artist perspective, who really cares what their fate is - as they have never represented the artist (or the listener) to begin with ... their time has come and is long past it's due date - any artist worth their wieght in dog crap already knows this.

Here is how the Saul Williams/Trent Reznor release is structured: For the cost of your email addy, the listener is allowed to download the entire album (CD artwork and booklet included - yippiiieee) in 192k/mp3/DRM free format! For $5, the listener can choose between 360k/mp3 or the lossless FLAC file. For listener AND artist, this is a win/win situation ... listeners unfamilar with the artist, the free model gets the word out (which leads to more potential sales), while the paying customer gets what they actually pay for. Considering there are no distro, manufacturing, shipping, warehouse and/or inventory cost associated with the download model, the $5 price tag looks to be right on target. Kudos to Trent & Saul for following thru and helping to map the future.

Many thanks to the good folks at TheRecordIndustry.com for the massive amounts of info.

and as always ...

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT MUSIC OF BE FORCE-FED CRAP.

Your ol' pal,
JaGoFF
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