So we're sending free recordings off into the world to do their work. If people enjoy these songs and are excited by them, we ask that they share them with others. The music business is about fame and huge profits -- egos and greed -- music itself, is not.
Switching from major label back to online distribution - 50 Foot Wave is releasing their newest EP entirely under a Creative Commons license. All five tracks are available as both MP3 as well as lossless FLAC on Hersh's site as well as archive.org. Hersh and the band actively encourage fans to post streams of the files and make copies for friends without CD burners or internet access. The band has even included cover artwork and photos so you can make your own cover. Just today, I played their CD Golden Ocean for someone else and won them yet another fan.
Kristin Hersh has been pretty philosophical about money recently - running into some sizeable home repair bills as well as money grubbing from the last time she played at the Birchmere in DC. You can theorize all you like about this move in terms of the music biz. Nonetheless, it seems like a very generous offer from Kristin, Bernard and Rob.
