Texas Music Forge label offers pay what you want for downloads

LABEL ANNOUNCES "PAY WHAT YOU WANT" POLICY FOR Mp3 DOWNLOADS

"We're the small mammal zipping around all the dinosaurs in the swamp"

Austin, Texas-based publisher and record label Texas Music Forge announced today that it has begun a "pay what you want" policy for its mp3 downloads. The concept of allowing customers to download music and set their own price for it has been a topic of intense controversy in the music industry.
Label president Ed Kliman stated "Texas Music Forge is the small mammal zipping around all the dinosaurs in the swamp. The concept of pay what you want has gained traction in the music industry as online file sharing has made traditional CD and Mp3 sales more difficult. Additionally, the fact that anyone with a computer can now create and distribute music has made the task of finding an audience for new artists much more difficult. In the face of these challenges, the pay what you want model has begun to attract attention in a music industry which has seen a drastic drop in revenue at a time when music listenership has never been higher."
The concept of allowing fans to decide how much to pay for music downloads was pioneered by Canadian singer Jane Siberry and recently embraced by pop band Radiohead with its current release.
A fairly consistent percentage of fans elect to pay for their downloads and both artists acknowledge turning a profit on releases where payment is voluntary. Encouraging fans to pass along Mp3s to friends, a practice which the music industry has tried to shut down, has also created favorable publicity and allowed both acts to attract a larger fan base.
All of the works in the Texas Music Forge catalog are presented as mp3 downloads with CD quality sound and consumers are offered the opportunity to pay what they want. The label's catalog carries both music and audio drama on their website at www.TexasMusicForge.com

ABOUT TEXAS MUSIC FORGE:
Formed in 2005 in Austin, Texas as a source for Mp3 downloads, Texas Music Forge has issued albums from a variety of artists such as The Twelfth Night Project and Ed Kliman, audiodrama such as History's Greatest Love Affairs and two cast albums for the Austin Shakespeare Festival. The label also creates professional music production libraries and licenses music. For more information, please visit www.TexasMusicForge.com or e-mail info@texasmusicforge.com