The Snapster Model

Tech journalist Robert X. Cringely posits a clever model for a legal music sharing business. It’s a surprisingly workable idea, which just requires a whole lot of lawyers and a few million dollars. On the down side, there’s no room in this model for compensation for artists, beyond whatever share of the list price of a new CD that they would get at retail. Cringely views it as not a problem, since artists are making so little money from recording anyway. (And he also recommends a share of company earnings be reinvested into artist development.)

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