"Hhhmm, another site that wants money”
Have you ever thought about how everyone nowadays seems to want material, whether it be audio (music, podcasts), video, e-books for free? This is something I have been guilty of too. If we hit a page where they want you to purchase the item, we move on…expecting it for free. You can see it now everywhere…especially free music.
I think that most of us either simply forget or perhaps don’t even realise that behind all the good, free stuff, is a lot hard committed work that goes into producing it (okay, there may be not so good stuff). Producers, whether they be musicians, authors, directors, probably find themselves competing with themselves whereby the stuff they give away for free in order to get themselves noticed, is actually undermining their attempts to make a living doing the same thing which, subsidises production (valuable time and effort) of the free stuff. They end up actually in competition with themselves…as if there wasn’t enough competition out there between them all as it is! Food for thought.
I would encourage anyone to at least make the occasional purchase, use the ‘Donate’ button, check if it’s a little cheaper elsewhere etc. in support of those that fulfill our voracious internet appetite. After all, what is the cost of e.g. a digital download, an e-book or a podcast nowadays? The cost of a beer? A coffee and a Danish? :-)
Now, having said that...