In the ever-escalating battle between the digital music fans and those who create the tunes, an interesting development has occurred. A site called Music Rebellion is selling songs for as little as 10 cents each.
The interesting piece comes in that as more people buy that song, the price goes up. So, in a direct correlation such as we haven’t seen since Econ 101, demand creates a higher price. This means that the market does truly determine the value of the product.
I believe that Amazon has been doing similar types of things for years, but never in such an open and direct manner. The frankness and the sheer cool factor may mean that this idea will stick with the digital download mania that has gripped the likes of Real, Apple, Microsoft, and even Walmart. Smart ideas like this, that give value and interest to the consumer may just save the music industry.
Honestly, I download a lot of music, and I buy a lot of music, and it’s something like this that might make me go more legit. Of course, I’m not sure how this is going to compare to Russian sites like AllofMP3 where I can buy a full album at super-high quality for $5.99, and it’s perfectly legal.
As a sidenote, since when did buying single songs become the de facto standard. I only want full albums. Show me a site that focuses on the full album buyer and I may be sold.
Combine the dynamic pricing, an eye towards the global market of the internet, and full album focus and I would be a happy customer.