Free Music and The Decemberists

I see that on TechCrunch today there is a story about how commercial recorded music will inevitably become free unless governments create artificial barriers. I definitely agree with the premise and view it as a good thing.

A friend recently sent me a link to 16 Military Wives by The Decemberists. Little Beam and I watched the video many times. Then I searched YouTube for more material by the band. The stuff that I found, I really liked. Finally, I could stand it no longer and ran off to Borders to purchase their CD, The Crane Wife, so I could experience the product as the artists packaged it. Now that I am satiated, I will probably endeavor to make future purchases directly from their website. I'll also keep an eye for when they make it down to the South and purchase concert tickets.

This is how bands should make money in the future. Create a quality product. Provide your potential audience access to the product. People will pay if they like what they see and hear.