Via Springwise, a new music site that charges for song downloads based on how popular the songs are. Amie Street starts of making every song available for free, then increases the price of the download, up to a whole 98 cents (still cheaper than iTunes!), based on how many people have downloaded the song.
Another reason it’s better than iTunes?
Artists maintain full ownership of their work and receive 70% of every sale after a first USD 5 to cover storage, bandwidth and transaction costs for that song. All MP3s sold through the website are DRM-free, so can be used on any music player, without restrictions.
AND…
Members are also rewarded for recommending music. As explained by Amie Street: “We know music is social, and the process of music discovery is stunted by traditional digital music retail sites because they are not social (or fun). Music discovery is best catalyzed by communication between people, so we reward fans for recommending songs to their friends by giving them credit to buy more music.”
This part of the Springwise blurb made me laugh, though.
Besides giving early buyers a better deal, the market price system gives them the added pleasure of seeing they’ve discovered a song or artist before everyone else has.
You also get the added value of hipster reinforcement!
