Magnatune, a record label founded in 1999, is using Creative Commons licenses and a flexible pricing model to provide music via the web. Consumers have the option to either listen online with announcements between tracks or get a copy, either via download or CD delivered by mail, for a fee.

"What I'm finding is in an era now when we're all connected to the internet a lot, people don't really want to download music because then you have to manage it, you have to download it and make sure you don't lose it and if your computer blows up you have to go and re-download it," said John Buckman, founder of Magnatune. "What people want is access to music."

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