04 June 2003

Today the Poynter Institute ran an article about Metallica, and how they're jumping on the download band-wagon - pun intended - even after all their anti-Napsterism. Which made me start thinking about music downloading. Poynter suggested that CDs will eventually lose out to downloads. And I think I know how it might work. You can download a song, or an album, but the price starts low and goes up as more and more people download it. Not a lot up, but up. So if you want an unknown band, you can get their music more cheaply than if you want the latest Top-40.

Alternatively, you could start expensive, and get cheaper as you get more popular... which is less egalitarian, probably more capitalistic, and not as fun to think about.

My pondering for today.

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