Who Needs Record Labels?

David Card | November 07, 2005, 10:46 AM

Just about everybody. If they want to make a living, that is. Let alone be a rock star. Pretty good story in the Journal that shows it ain't easy for a band to make it doing the online thing: 92,000 free downloads converted to 600 oniline payers, and a few thousand CD and merchandise sales. And the band, Harvey Danger, doesn't really want to tour. Good luck.

Still, while making money from "Little by Little…" isn't Harvey Danger's primary goal and the band is in no hurry to recoup its costs, all those downloads haven't translated to big bucks yet. (Guitarist Jeff) Lin says only about 600 people have donated something via PayPal; contributions have ranged from a token $1 to as high as $30, with most being in the $5-to-$10 range. The band has done far better monetarily from sales of physical CDs and other merchandise; Mr. Lin says "maybe 2,000 or 3,000" of the initial 5,000 run have been sold, with about 1,000 of those sales coming through the Web site and the majority of those buyers opting for a $24 package that also includes a shirt, buttons and a sticker.