| It seems to me they are using this album as a loss leader for they're upcoming tour.
By having a small team in house doing almost everything (writing, programming, mixing,) they could realistically keep the album budget reasonable. Without having
the bloat that is common with the big labels, they can probably move very quickly.
It wouldn't be a huge shock if this album was put together for the sole purpose
of promoting the tour. For instance, to download the album you give them an email
address. You are then asked if you would like to send the download links to your
friends. At some point you will receive an email offering pre-sale tickets for the
upcoming tour.
It's really pretty brilliant. They can market directly to their fans. In exchange for
who the fans are (email,) you get a downloadable album (including 24/96).
Now every one of their fans get to hear the album before going to the show.
Undoubtedly, the tour will make a killing. Ticket prices, merchandise, etc. have
a much better mark up than albums do currently, so it looks like they are just
choosing what is a better bet to make their money.
Trent is giving the razor away for free, but charging for the blades, so to speak. |