Earlier this year, Thom Yorke released his new album on BitTorrrent, selling it in a package that had to be paid for. Now, BitTorrent will let any artist release an album as a paid-for bundle.
Just in case you’ve missed how bundles work on BitTorrent, here’s a refresher:
Basically, a bundle is really just a bunch of files — music, lyrics, videos, etc. — transferred to you over the BitTorrent protocol using a client of your choice…. Usually, the bundles are gated — so that in order to get access to the bundle you’ve got to submit your email address or some other information. It works as a free/premium system. For example, you might get a song or two for free, and then even more songs behind the gate.
Actually, the entire setup is very flexible. You can allow, say, the first 500 people to listen for free and then charge, or just give everyone a single free track. Hell, you could even just ask everyone to pay for all of it. It’s worth noting that it doesn’t just apply to music either: it could be apps, movies or something else entirely.
But for now at least we can expect music to be the main thrust — and given what’s been happening with Taylor Swift, this might be welcome news for many artists. BitTorrent may just be the future of music. [BitTorrent via TechCrunch]