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Re:Cheaper than free: paying for music after searching for a... by d135-1r43 on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @05:52PM (#3421700)
This can work for some special interest bands that are arty and hip and young and sexy. It will not work for conservative musical genres and pop music.
Re:Cheaper than free: paying for music after searching for a... by TheHegemon on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @06:12PM (#3421768)
> It will not work for conservative musical genres and pop music.

I don't see why it can't work for most musical genres. I have bought music from bandcamp that spans dozens of different genres.

As for pop music, good riddance.

I'd rather artists get paid because their music is good, not because some company is paying millions a year to market the hell out it.

Re:Cheaper than free: paying for music after searching for a... by DarkShikari on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @08:56PM (#3422370)
I think what the GP means is that it won't mesh well with certain outdated marketing methods used for certain target audiences. The genre itself is merely correlated with this, not directly linked.

Which is perfectly okay. We're in an age where music production is so accessible that a few talented musicians can make music of better quality than a top "pop band" and sell it with near-zero distribution costs. The production cost of a full album, including paying a talented, professionally trained vocalist, is now down to just a few thousand dollars.

As a result, there's a massive, ever-increasing supply of incredibly high-quality music that never touched a record label. The genre and style are irrelevant.

"Pop artists" these days are now more a matter of selling idols than selling sound. Let the music be made by actual musicians: Justin Bieber and AKB48 were never marketed based on their music to begin with.

Re:Cheaper than free: paying for music after searching for a... by nedwin on Wednesday January 04, 2012 @12:02AM (#3422852)
Exactly. A "one-size fits all" model isn't going to work in the fragmented music market. Pop artists & their labels already know how to make money selling music, this model is more in tune to the less-than-mainstream.
Re:Cheaper than free: paying for music after searching for a... by skrebbel on Wednesday January 04, 2012 @06:59AM (#3423761)
Come on guys, why the downvotes? It's might not be the brightest comment on HN, but what's offensive or bad about it? Just discuss!

(upvoted to counter stupid downvotes, even though i don't agree with you)

Re:Cheaper than free: paying for music after searching for a... by nextparadigms on Wednesday January 04, 2012 @02:44AM (#3423228)
Even Youtube seems to have worked for some singers like Justin Bieber and Rebecca Black.