The most unusual aspect of Magnatune is that consumers can decide how much they'll pay for downloading a CD. Although they can choose to pay anywhere from $5 to $18, Buckman says the average is a somewhat surprising $8.40. CD purchases are also charged a shipping fee, although customers purchasing in that format can also download their music while waiting for the CD to arrive.
Buckman says "they really don't get anything more for paying more other than feeling like they're doing the right thing, but the reality is today nobody really needs to pay for music at all. If you choose to hit the 'buy' button at Magnatune then you're one of the people who has decided to actually pay for music. Shouldn't we reflect that honest behaviour back and say, well, if you're one of the honest people how much do you want to pay?"
Maybe if more media companies would treat their customers this way instead of assuming they're criminals, consumers would feel the same way about them.
Source: The Register