A few weeks ago on the Kansas City Music Forum the band Top Hat advertised that you could download their entire album on mp3.com for free. Drummer Cody Detrick (no relation other than honorary, so don't get the wrong idea about why I'm plugging his band) stated that "we don't care about the money" in his post. As wonderful and refreshing of a thought that it was, should they really just be giving it away for free?

Of course, my 56k connection and I ran over to their site to see WHY they would give it away for free. It's not because they lack talent. I was quite impressed with the young band's experimental sounds and gladly whisked up some of their tunes.

There is however an assumption by people in this country that I have heard from other musicians and that in this case I myself had: if you don't have to actually pay for something, it's probably because it's not worth anything.

Yes, your work is art. Yes, when you start out it sometimes feels like no matter how well you feel your stuff is selling, it still doesn't add up to what you'd hoped it would. Yes, people love getting things for free. BUT, we have be accustomed to paying for our entertainment. We DO view music as a commodity, otherwise there wouldn't be people who are opposed to Napster. We've gotten used to the fact that musicians perform a service by providing the soundtrack to our day, and all the fighting for the right to be paid has actually left us with the thought that they should be.

Think about when you buy a CD or shirt for a local band. Doesn't it just FEEL better than when you buy a national act CD down at Best Buy? You know someone will feel the direct effect of your purchase, and that you really are supporting someone in a tangible way, as opposed to just being another number whose helping some CEO's kid go to a better school than you could go to.

On a mailing list recently this indie artist was talking about how she had this great marketing plan. She'd pulled the ol' Stephen King trick: offered her CD for free, told customers to pay for it if they liked it. Now, you know how this movie is going to end, but I'll spell it out anyway. She sent out the free CDs, and NOT ONE PERSON PAID HER.

DUH, I say. What's she going to do now? She has email and phone contacts for all of these people, and her plan is to call/write to all of these people and demand that they pay her. Now, put yourself in the customer's shoes. Would you ever be a return customer for someone who called your house and demanded money like a creditor? I would wrap that precious CD of her's back up and send it right back where it came from with a not-so-pleasant little note telling her which nether region she could go to if she ever thought of contacting me again.

The point of this story: don't give people the option of NOT paying you if you actually expect to be paid. What she told people by giving them this option is that YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY BECAUSE MY WORK ISN'T WORTH ANYTHING. You can't go back on it after you've already said that, because they've already formed the opinion that you entertain them for free. In fact, my guess is that if she tries to charge for her next CD, no one will take her seriously.

Back to our own neighborhood. Now, I love mp3.com. Hell, I work for mp3.com, I want as many people to go there as possible. It and sites like it are a great way to see what a band sounds like before seeing them live, buying their CD, or auditioning for them (it's apparently helped many KC drummers decide that my band isn't right for them). But I still end up following the progress of bands I physically buy CDs for more often than ones I just download a few songs from. You're investing more than a few dollars, you're investing interest in those bands, and they deserve it. Top Hat had their hearts in the right place, but they really do deserve to make a few bucks. Check 'em out at http://www.mp3.com/tophat and get'm some Payback for Playback action.

Dana Detrick-Clark
dana@thezone.org

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For more on Dana, check out her band (Post Orgasmic Trauma) and record label (Serious Vanity).