Marillion offer their new album for FREE online

[FinalEyes]

Marillion Album Offered Free Online

5 hours ago

A British band has become the latest to shake-up the record industry by releasing its new album on free, music-sharing websites.

Peer-to-peer websites have been at the centre of industry concerns about piracy.

But rock group Marillion is putting its album on file-sharing sites in a move which they claim is a world first.

A string of big acts have already blazed a trail in experimenting with new routes and revenue models to release their music.

Radiohead asked customers to pay what they wanted - which turned out to be an average of £2.90 - for their most recent album, In Rainbows, as a digital download.

Record labels have complained that illegal file-sharing is damaging the industry.

But offering free music for download is legal as long as the copyright holder gives consent.

Marillion hopes to recoup money by sending messages about their tour and merchandise to people who download their 15th album, Happiness Is The Road.

The band, who like Radiohead have cut-out the record label, were one of the first to release records through their own website in the 1990s.

Labels have been stung by online developments and spent years fighting, through the courts, companies offering free internet downloading and sharing of songs.

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5ic3Mre4xc9S4W1pJ_FR48beqdPag

Marillion are one of my favorite bands, so I (of course) grabbed this when it came out today. So far, the album has been excellent (I'm on my first listen and halfway through it), and I'll definitely be buying the physical release. If you get a chance, download this now!

 

[arXter]

yeah i posted this in the 'Want to buy a song' thread - it's a bit of a shame to see the industry needs to head this way but it's also encouraging artists to tour more. i'm surprised that more acts haven't done this after Prince's little UK trial.