Jen's Blog

In the past week or so, I’ve seen 2 artists trying something  a little different. Taylor Swift had her new album (which had only been released a few weeks before) available for $3.99 on Amazon.com. My interest had been piqued on this album, but did not want it enough to commit to buying it or downloading the album for free (I know I’m lazy). So when it was available for $3.99, I didn’t hesitate to buy it. On a similar note, Girl Talk released his album yesterday for free to download. I’m not sure how long it will be free, but still different. 

In the music industry’s current model, music isn’t what is making them money. Concert sales and merchandise are bringing in much more revenue. Why buy when you can download for free or get it from a friend? I applaud artists who realize this, and convince their manager/label/ whomever that it’s better to sell the music for cheap, or give it away for free. This doesn’t always work out to their favor, but look at Taylor. I wouldn’t have spent one penny before, and I ended up paying $4. It’s about getting creative, or finding the right price point, and $15.99 just isn’t it.