First off, I know that the discussion of free downloads provokes strong opinion and varied reactions so feel free to have your say in the comments box.
You may not have heard a suggestion quite like the one you are about to read so please spend a few minutes to read the post in full and understand that this suggestion is with the intention of marketing independent bands and artists.
OK, you have your music playing on your website in a flash player that looks great. Visitors can hear your music but can’t download it. Is this good promotion?… Sorry, not in my opinion 
Speaking for myself, being able to play your music but not download it is going to limit the attention I give to it. That’s not to say, I won’t listen to music through web browsers, but, I won’t bookmark them to go back and listen again. Personally, a track grows on me the more I listen to it and for this reason, I need to be able to download it to my Sansa Clip so that I can listen to it whilst on the move or during my downtime away from the computer.
Sure, if I have heard a mainstream act perform on TV, seen their chat show appearances, on ‘An Audience with…’ , on adverts and in the news, I am very likely to go and buy their downloads from my preferred music store (Amazon MP3
It is about exposure, promotion and communication and the major record labels invest huge amounts into this so that we buy their artists’ music and merchandise. Independent bands, artists and labels can not do this!
The fact is you need your visitors to support you and your music. Why not interact with them and provide them with value so that they eventually become your loyal fan base?
OK, I know that people downloading music for free is a thorny issue. It does not help that there are many who would rip your audio from their browser using software or search for the track name on P2P sites rather than purchasing it. Furthermore, they add it to their shared files and continue to share it with others.
But, why can’t free music downloads be an opportunity to promote yourself? Why not have them contain adverts?… Your adverts! It is not a new concept; commercial radio stations have been doing it for years; this is just a variation of it.
You could actively encourage sharing of your album. This free version would contain a message at the end of every track. 5-10 seconds informing the listener that they can support you and how to go about it. For example:
- Thanks for listening to the free download, support us at mysite.com
- If you like our work, we are (band name), support us at mysite.com
- Sign up to our mailing list at mysite.com
- We are an independent band, thank you for supporting us by sharing this free track. Support us further by getting our paid for downloads at mysite.com
- Buy this album at mysite.com and get a bonus podcast interview with the band
If your album is 15 tracks, create 15 messages for the end of every track. A voice-over can be hired inexpensively to create these, or you could even record them yourself if you wanted to. Getting the band members to record the messages could actually be more compelling.
“My name is ___, I hope you are enjoying your free copy of our album, you can buy it at mysite.com, thanks for your support.”
You get the idea, offer a free album download, file share it yourself, but always have a route back to the source of origin (You!). Make it known that this is your work and you want the listeners to offer their support by buying your tracks and albums. Let people’s own moral barometer decide. Let’s face it, if they like your album and respect you as an artist, it is going to be quicker to just buy it than try to edit out the adverts.
I for one would be happy to preview albums with adverts and would pay for the full version if I liked it.
What do you think?…