saul williams did it (under reznor) (Score 1)

He did this with Saul Williams' CD late last year (that he produced), it was the same as the Radiohead thing except there were only two options - free and 5 dollars, and no discs or anything physical was available. The numbers he later provided, like 20-30k people paid out of 150k. When he released those numbers he said something along the lines of he didn't make much of a profit if any because he recorded and mixed it professionally. I think this suggests that maybe smaller guys without built in fanbases don't have what it takes to do this business model successfully. I think the touring comment was good though, as anyone who liked the music will probably go to a show (i'm planning to go to a SW show). Not to say that the riaa's model works, just something in between will probably work better for them. I mean, if everyone actually did follow this business model... Well, does anyone really want to see a band like nickelback or daughtry get millions of dollars for anything, let alone the music they make?