by Dave Mainella
After releasing several successful bundles of desktop games in pay-what-you-want releases, the Humble Bundle decided to bring the concept to independent music.
The first Humble Music Bundle, released Thursday and available for two weeks, features albums from six artists: They Might Be Giants, Jonathan Coulton, OK Go!, Christopher Tin, and Hitoshi Sakimoto.
Humble Bundle business developer Richard Esguerra explains they were partially inspired by the success of Radiohead’s “In Rainbows,” the pioneering album that encouraged fans to pay what they want.
“Our philosophy with games has been to help independent creators, support charity, and provide an unbeatable deal for customers and fans around the world, and all of those values seem to be a no-brainer fit for music as well,” says Esguerra. “And Humble Bundles have always been about pushing boundaries, so digital music was a natural thing to try, and we’re really interested in how music fans are going to respond.”
Customers can download the six-album bundle in DRM-free MP3 or FLAC lossless audio files. After choosing what amount to pay, customers then decide what portion of the money goes to the artist, to Humble Bundle as a “tip,” and to two organizations – the Child’s Play Charity and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The default split is 65%, 20%, and 15% respectively.
At publishing, the Humble Music Bundle has already grossed over $100,000 with an average purchase price of $7.86.
Find out more about the Humble Music Bundler in this informational video:
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