Music's New Supply/Demand Model

Sept. 6, 2007 — -- The cardinal rule of economics 101 is that prices are ideally determined by supply and demand.

In the struggling music industry -- where it seems no bad idea goes unfunded -- a fledgling Web site is seeking to break new ground with this traditional model.

Last month, Amazon.com announced it had completed a round of financing for a music Web site that prices mp3s on the basis of consumer demand. The site, Amie Street, allows any artist to upload songs, which are then offered for free. As more people buy the songs, the price goes up, to a maximum of 98 cents per track. Artists as big as Johnny Cash and Sarah McLachlan already have songs on the site.

In my record-buying past, I was always excited when albums went on sale for the holidays or due to overstock. The only traditional way of pushing newer artists for less occurred when labels would price new releases at a discount, allowing music geeks like myself to try my luck on twice as many CDs. In those dark ages, we couldn't preview the songs and many times were just buying music based on a single's airplay or from a review in a magazine.

The times they are a changing, and in the case of Amie Street, like Facebook and Napster before it, the company is founded by a group of people under 30 -- in this case, three seniors in Brown University's class of 2006. As co-founder Joshua Boltuch explained, knowing -- or being -- the target consumer is everything.

"We asked ourselves, 'What would get us to buy music? What kind of site would be compelling for a generation that grew up having every song for free?'" he said.

"The idea would be to help people discover new music," he said. "That's why the pricing system is the way it is -- not because we love math." The free pricing for new and obscure music encourages people to try new bands, and through Amie Street's recommendation system, listeners get credit for recommending tracks to friends and helping unknown artists get a toehold.

"For new artists, it makes a lot of sense," said Topher Mohr, a Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter whose songs are currently priced at 39 cents each. Fewer fans, he explained, would take a full 99-cent risk on iTunes. And without record label backing, it is difficult for unsigned or smaller artists to even get placement in the iTunes store.

ABC News contributor Michael Smith is an internationally recognized DJ who has a music-services business. He works with a variety of corporate clients. www.smitheventmusic.com or info@smitheventmusic.com.