Wow... Actual Support! They Know We Exist!

Wanted to buy an album I had just discovered... but didn't want to haul myself to the neighborhood Best Buy. So I wanted to see if the band had an online purchase method. They didn't... but they sold through Amazon. I knew Amazon sold DRM-less MP3's, so I decided to check it out. For whole album downloads you are required to use their lil' download app, so imagine my aghast expression when I saw:

Sweet. Works only on 32-bit Linux (can work on 64 but has problems with library dependencies), but otherwise purchasing was swell. No issues.

Thanks Amazon for realizing Linux users buy music, too!

When $300 Is More Popular than Free

For the past two years digital delivery has supplanted shelf space, but those attached to selling physical inventory have poo-poo'ed the viability of such consumerism. But good ole' Trent may be proving that the merch sells itself once and for all.

The Reg puts it well when it says "Nine Inch Nails cracks net distribution" - their latest album has gone up for sale in several interesting ways on their site: get the first volume (nine tracks) for free. If you like it, you can buy all the volumes lossless (36 tracks) including a 40 page PDF booklet for a measly $5. For only ten stinkin' bucks you can get the whole thing as a two disc CD set with a printed booklet. For $75 you can get the audiophile version, digital versions, Red Book CD versions, hardcover slip case and more. Or you can pay $300 and get a super-mega-uber-limited-edition-collectors pack.

Or at least you could before all 2,500 sold out.

At a time when people keep claiming that pirated music is killing the industry and no one will pay for music anymore, it seems awful incongruous that 2,500 units at $300 a pop sold out in almost a day.

Same thing happened back in the day when I bought a copy of Uplink. I could buy it cheaply on its own or shell out some extra bucks and get the signed "limited edition." Of course I now have a proudly signed copy of Uplink on my shelf.

It's not hard to upsell customers, even (or especially) with digital distribution. Give them schwag and they will come.