Yet Another Take On Free Music

from the steal-my-music dept

Earlier today we wrote about yet another music label that was figuring out a way to use the music for promotion rather than trying to lock it up - and how that will eventually challenge the established recording industry. Here's another example of a company looking to make use of free music, though I think they've got the system set up a little backwards. There's apparently a relatively new site called Steal My Music, where independent artists can have their CDs given away for free. Shoppers pay for shipping and handling only. The idea (obviously) is to promote new and independent bands. The reason this seems backwards is that they're giving away the tangible item (the CD), when it would make a lot more sense to just offer the music for free, without the CD. If they tied in with a P2P file sharing system, they spread out the costs as well. As it stands, it's the band that has to eat the costs by having CDs made which they're then giving away. If you have this great distribution mechanism for giving away music and using it for promotional purposes - it seems sort of backwards, instead, to focus on giving away CDs.
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  • identicon
    Chris, 20 Nov 2003 @ 12:41pm

    No Subject Given

    I bet there is some marginal profit in that "shipping and handling" fee.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    AMetamorphosis, 20 Nov 2003 @ 1:02pm

    The profit IS in the S&H

    The profit IS in the S&H. This is a standard way for businesses to offer products for $ 19.95 on television when in reality, add in the S&H and the item usually soars to near $ 30.00. I understand the term " Shipping " but can anyone give me a good understanding of what " Handling " is ? If by " Handling " they mean picking up the item and placing it in an envelope, then why don't " brick & mortar " establishments charge me to place the item I just purchased into a bag ?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      AMetamorphosis, 20 Nov 2003 @ 1:11pm

      Follow up ...

      I quickly created a false account @ this website.
      Guess what ? Shipping: $3.85 Handling Total: $1.50 Grand Total: $5.35 ... I can find big name acts in clearance bins for less than this ...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Beck, 20 Nov 2003 @ 5:09pm

        Re: Follow up ...

        I put 3 CDs in a cart and found that shipping would total $2.00. That is quite reasonable. The actual USPS charge (media mail) is $1.42, leaving 58 cents to cover the rest of their costs.

        Had this been the BMG Music Service, shipping 3 "free" CDs would cost about $8.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Ryan King, 20 Nov 2003 @ 5:22pm

          Re: Follow up ...

          Bradsucks.net sells his CDs for $5, shipping included.
          This is actually a great idea. Checkout www.freedistribute.org for a pretty good write up on this way of thinking.
          There are a lot of reasons people want physical CDs over digital media. It's complicated and illogical, but completely true.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Beck, 20 Nov 2003 @ 6:20pm

            Re: Follow up ...

            I think there are many good reasons why someone would want to buy a CD rather than download the music:

          • They don't know how to burn a CD
          • They don't have a CD burner
          • Audiophiles don't want the loss of quality when the music is compressed as an MP3
          • They want to give the CD as a gift
          • They don't want to download an entire CD on a dial-up connection
          • Psychologically, a homemade CD doesn't feel like the "real thing"

link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Cliff, 8 Jan 2004 @ 10:40pm

    Re: Follow up ...

    Actually, this is my site and I don't make any money off of the shipping and handling fee. The little money that helps support the site currently comes from affiliate ads. The shipping is actual cost strait from the USPS server (different prices based on different shipping methods you can chose). The handling fee barely covers the cost of packing materials and the insane cost of the credit card transaction. Basically, the whole idea is to help artists get their cds and demos into more hands, and so far it's working.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Beck, 20 Nov 2003 @ 5:02pm

    Re: The profit IS in the S&H

    "Handling" charges always burn me up. Handling is part of the cost of doing business, and should be included in the price. Retail stores do a lot more "handling" of goods than an Internet merchant who ships from a warehouse, but stores don't tack on a handling charge at the cash register.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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