RE: The Future of Music (was: Re: e-book pricing)

From: hal@finney.org
Date: Tue Aug 01 2000 - 10:22:23 MDT


> I think some serious thought ought to be given to the honor system /
> shareware paradigm by artists in general, and musicians in particular. As a
> for instance, I recently Napstered Macy Gray’s excellent album, and am
> enjoying it so much that I’d be *happy* to pay for the album (albeit at a
> steep discount, since I neither have nor want the CD medium or the fancy
> packaging).

You'd only get a "steep discount" if a substantial part of the costs are
due to the CD medium and the packaging. What evidence is there that this
is true? Isn't it well known that CD manufacturing costs are far lower than
the price of the CDs? The plastic packaging can't cost that much, either.
I don't see why you'd expect a substantial discount purely due to this
difference in distribution.

Hal



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