I took part in a blog conversation the other day where someone was making the familiar but tedious remark about how the Internet was making it difficult for musicians to earn from their recordings. In particular this person objected to the “pay what you want” option for music available on the likes of BANDCAMP describing it as a begging bowl option.

I don’t agree with that. “Pay what you want” lets appreciators be patrons of your work rather than customers buying a product which I think offers a more appropriate relationship to the arts than the commodity model.

That apart, I’ve pointed out often enough as have many others that historically most musicians made nothing from their recordings anyway and that the Internet actually opens up new possibilities.

I contributed this to the conversation:

1.    I often think that the elephant in the room in discussions like these is a simple fact: that down the decades the great majority of recorded works had zero commercial value. Outside of these works being meaningful to their creators and an immediate circle they were virtually worthless.
   

1. The record business then was like a high stakes casino where the big wins were huge. There were few artists who got recorded at all and of those who did, and had their work released, a tiny minority were commercially successful. They were the hens who laid the golden eggs.
   

1. With technology and the Internet the age of the golden egg is over. What we have in place is something entirely new in its embryo. The old values and associated metaphors don’t make sense any longer. It doesn’t follow that a piece of recorded music should have a given monetary worth. And as I am pointing out, it never did.
   

1. The motive for putting your music out - i.e. letting it go into the electronic ether - has to be that it might be heard. It might be discovered by people in far-flung places it otherwise would not have. This is a great boon. It is an added benefit to any artist in its own right as until fairly recently such a thing was impossible without the patronage of a major player. However, you can’t immediately attach a commercial tag to that with any realistic expectation. Actually if you do, it is likely to have the effect of tying a lead weight to your work. It ain’t gonna fly.
   

1. If big numbers catch on to what you’re offering then you’re closer to a negotiating position where money-making deals are possible. Until then, you’re not exactly giving it away, you’re just letting it be heard. Sure, if you can find a way to get folks to part with cash on the way then all power to you.
   

1. Asking people to pay what they want is not a begging bowl it is just adding a further dimension to this interesting new scenario. Some might oblige, most will not. Whichever way it’s a harmless option which does not demean your creativity and value. That will be determined by other, much more important factors.