$2.19 for an mp3?

[Jerome]

A lot of digital distribution sites set their own price and the composer has no control over the pricing. I put up some individual tracks on CD Baby a couple of years ago at 99cents each. Those same tracks starting appearing on other sites for 8.50 each. But the real problem is that after you have done all the mixing and mastering some of these sites process your audio files through whatever software package they have and the end result is hideous. Anyway, far more people have downloaded my music from file-sharing sites than have actually paid for it (predominantly in Russia and the Far East). It's just the way of the world. If you can listen to something it can be recorded. If it can be recorded, it can be distributed illegally. There is no way around this. The industry cannot stop it. What always amazes me is that people have no problem paying a dollar or more for a bottle of water, which will be gone in a few minutes, but when they are asked to pay the same price for an mp3, which they will have for life, they say - Geez what a rip-off. Makes you wonder if we are really the intelligent species or not. And as for the actual price - 99cents doesn't fool anybody. I price my work at 1.00 dollar per track, regardless of the length of the tracks. Some are longer than the average track and some are shorter. It balances out in the end. If you are a non-performing musician you will never make back your investment in the project unless it's mainstream stuff. Instrumental music is very difficult to sell online. But at the end of the day you do what you do because you enjoy doing it. If anyone actually bothers to pay for it, that's a bonus. I sell small amounts of my work from time to time - it comes through in drips and drabs. I used to have distribution on all the normal sites but decided to pull it because (a) the return is too small from streaming sites and (b) the quality of the final product leaves a lot to be desired. Most people can't tell the difference between the good and bad final products on offer, but to me the sites that are filtering your audio through their own software systems are creating an absolute mess of it. More exposure at the risk of inferior quality is not an option for me. If someone pays for something, however small the actual amount, then they deserve to get the best possible quality.