You know that old saying, the best things in life are free? Well one of my all-time favourite Merseyside musicians is bringing it to life in a wonderful way.
King of all things acoustic and former ECHO busker of the year Alun Parry is giving away his music freely, and if people like it they can make a donation. It's an idea inspired by his busking days, and I think it's fantastic...
“I reckon that the old music models are pretty much dying out,” says Alun. “Record companies are trying to breathe some life into the corpse through litigation etc but ultimately, in my view, the future is live shows.
”I reckon artists should aim to get people to their shows, not prevent people listening to their music by slapping a fee on it. By letting people have access to the music, then you're more likely to get people to the shows. For anyone like me who loves playing live, then thats the main aim.
“Aaaaaanyhoooo.....buskernomics.
“I was thinking about my time as a busker. I didn't have a turnstile at the entrance of Bold Street and a soundproof box that people paid to enter.
“I just played. Some people pointed and laughed!
“Some enjoyed it and it brightened their day as they walked past, but that’s all they did, they just walked past, maybe nodded me a smile.
“Some liked it so much they volunteered money into my guitar case. They weren't forced to. They chose to, as an acknowledgement of the fact that they enjoyed what I was doing.
“That was all done on a borrowed guitar cos I didn't own one. But busking paid for my first ever guitar. People volunteering money for something that they could have just got for free is what bought me a guitar (and my Nan a radio with the leftovers!)
“So what I've been doing lately at gigs with my album is to let the audience decide the price. Its buskernomics!
“£2 is what it costs for a CD to be produced "shop ready" and sello wrapped like mine is, in a shortish print run.
“So I say to the audience ‘there's 10 tracks on here, its £10 at Virgin and the likes, but you can have it now for £2 or more.’ ie they can pay more if they want to but so long as they cover my costs with a £2 donation they can have the album.
“Guess what? Not only am I shifting tons more CDs at live shows. But people are paying more than the £2 asked for - the philosophy of busking still works; people VOLUNTEER to pay more than they need to!
“Now applying that to my website? Well, the production costs for a download are zero. So once I've sorted the site revamp out and installed my Buskernomics idea, that’s how much each download will cost.
“Zero or more. Just like when I was busking.
“People can listen to it. If they like it they can download it. If they want to download it for free then go ahead. I'm glad they want to listen to my stuff. It's why I battle away doing original music rather than the Brown Eyed Girl circuit after all - because I WANT people to hear my music.
“But if, just like when busking, someone wants to pay for it then they can - and what’s more, they get to choose just how much they think it’s worth.
“The live shows were a trial. I learned a long time ago that it works with busking. I now know the same idea works with live shows.
“So now that’s my entire approach to distributing my music.
“I'm taking the lessons I learned as a humble busker, and letting my listeners decide what to pay - even if they decide to pay nothing.”
What do you reckon? Do you like the sound of Buskernomics? Should all music be available on this honesty-box system? Share your views and log onto Alun’s site for more information at http://www.parrysongs.co.uk/