How Much Would You Pay To Support Your Favorite (Or Ninth-Favorite) Artist?
Yesterday’s big news about Radiohead got Bob Mould, late of Husker Du and Sugar and now releasing records under his own name, thinking about possibly embracing non-traditional pricing models for a forthcoming album of his (not his next one, though; that’s coming out via Anti- next year). On his blog, he outlined some alternate fee structures:
…if I were to abandon the traditional model, would you support my work? And if so, what model would be acceptable? Here’s three that I have long thought are reasonable. Please be mindful of the following expenditures: studio cost, musician fees, equipment upgrades, rent and utilities, web site maintenance, management, publicist, other professional services. My parts and labor.
Individual songs, $1 – 2 When I finish a song, you are notified by e-mail. You are directed to a secure site, some sort of unique password is generated, and you download the DRM-free file.
Album length release, $10 – 20 When I finish a group of 10 songs, you are notified by e-mail. You are directed to a secure site, some sort of unique password is generated, and you download the DRM-free files.
Annual fee, $20 – 40 Artist subsidy. In return for underwriting my work, you receive all music as it is completed, as well as exclusive content (video, artwork, stuff from my storage space). When tours are scheduled, additional consideration at each venue (VIP seating, etc.).
Right now, the “$40 annual fee” option is in first; it actually doesn’t sound all that dissimilar from the fan club model that a lot of larger artists have in place in addition to their current record deals, albeit with fewer middlemen involved (and a lower price than I’d expect, especially when you take into account all of the costs Mould mentions). But like David Card at Jupiter noted, nontraditional models (particularly those like the “subsidy” models outlined by Mould) work a lot better for artists who already have some sort of fanbase already in place; unless there’s an alternate way for people who want to take a flyer on an artist to pay for music by said artist–or at least to check it out for low/possibly even no cost–it might be more difficult to grow the fanbase of people who pay for recordings (as opposed to concerts or other merch) beyond the pool of current fans who have already proven willing to pay a slightly higher premium. I’d probably lay down $40 for a year of music and goodies by Celebration or Pram, but for artists who don’t hold such a sway over me? Probably not, unless the extras were really good (or at least involved the promise of some free food somewhere); after all, I only have so many dollars to allocate, and I suspect most music fans do as well.
Week In Review [Boblog] Bob Mould [MySpace]
