If they want to know whether digital distribution is a viable form of release, maybe they should actually try it, instead of hedging their bets by planning to release a 'real' CD later! Geez. That's why I didn't pay for the download...

(I mean, I don't blame them for doing it this way; they were totally up front about it. But drawing conclusions about sales, before they've found out how many people downloaded it for free but will buy a disc later is dumb!)

I didn't pay for it, but I wouldn't purchase the cd either. The only reason I downloaded it was because it was free, and I could check it out for free. Didn't the whole internet thing drum up a lot of interest in the cd that wouldn't have been there? How many of the people who paid for it would have bought it had it been a normal cd release? Was it just a gimmick?

Econimacally cd's are just too expensive. But iTunes are even worse. If iTunes lowered its price to $5 a cd, I might use em, but why should I pay $10 if I can get a hard copy off of Amazon for a few bucks more?

I agree with the Rodenator. This download worked perfectly for me, and would like to see more of the same from other artists. I downloaded the album (having never heard any of Saul William's other stuff) since it was free and saw it here on CM's site. I listened to it two or three times, and didn't really like it (a fucking U2 cover?! give me a fucking break!), so I didn't pay for it. If I had actually enjoyed the music, I would have paid.

And iTunes is too damn expensive. Weren't all of the artists bitching about how they only get about a dollar per CD (if they were lucky) and the other 13-17 dollars goes to the record company, PR, sales, advertising, and the actual cost of making the disc and packaging (this was about ten years ago though, before napster came along, and many realized it was better to back the major recording labels than bite the hand that feeds them, even if only crumbs).

Shouldn't Apple have been able to drastically reduce the cost of the product, or at least raised the amount going to the artists? I would certainly like to see some figures on percentage of cash going to the artists on physical CD sales vs. online distribution. Anyone know anything about that?

ps-I would have no qualms paying for more music if the money was going to bands that I actually liked. Not for the record labels to increase payola and advertising for fucking Nickelback.

Matt, you can find the info you're looking for here: http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne?current...

Thanks, CM. Turns out this whole 'internet' thing can be a useful tool for gathering new information and answering questions. That was kinda what I expected. Not particularly encouraging that, according to Byrne, artists may actually earn LESS per album on iTunes than on a physical copy of a CD.