Quote Originally Posted by Microdot View Post
Anyone who doesn't understand why a mainstream act giving their music away free is bad for upcoming acts is an idiot.
They didn't give it away for free though.
They made much more money, by not asking their fans to pay sales portals and distributors, and just pay them, the band, what they thought it was worth. Some gave them nothing. Others paid them what they though the album should cost.

Nobody is doing up and comers favours by releasing their music, so that it can sit on servers, where nobody hears it because nobody is prepared to buy something from an artist they've never heard. And thats in the event they can even find them in the first place, buried beneath a thousand tonnes of crap.

Nothing stopping labels going direct to fans either. They'd get a hell of a lot more out their artists if they didn't need to pay distributors and sales portals the majority cut just to get stocked and sold.

The main people threatened by people giving stuff away, are the people who offer no real value beyond the ability to sell.