After a great deal of deliberation I've decided to make the whole Hallucignosis album available as a free download (click the HG link above). My main motivation for charging for it was due to the large expense incurred (over $6000) in hiring professionals to mix and master the record. Completely necessary costs to get this thing to sound on par with everything else in the marketplace. Its something I wonder if I'll ever be able to afford again.

For years I've watched the implosion of the music industry due to the onset of the digital age. As a web designer I've had a birds eye view into the careers of a lot of very successful artists (worked for a company that handled a lot of sites for both famous and indie bands)... the question was always lingering in the background..."what is the MP3 going to do to the industry?" Well, its years later and the effect has been disastrous from a purely financial standpoint. Sure, the major labels deserve to be skewered for their contract practices and the gross abuses of artist royalties, but the issue runs much deeper. A more profound change has occurred:

Consumers do not place a monetary value on the music they listen to.

I know this is true, because I've seen the change happen in myself as well. While I don't use peer to peer networks, I have often shared scores of MP3s with friends. And I probably purchase a tenth the amount of music I did when I was younger and digital formats did not exist.

So how artists will survive is a big question. They may depend entirely on live performances to sustain themselves. Many sell out to the advertising world and while it seems a disgusting practice to me, it seems more understandable now that I'm more directly experiencing this change.

Maybe the music was always supposed to be free and this temporary phase of commerce-centric creation has finally ended. We'll see where it lands us in the future. Its a big dilemma because now that I've tasted the benefits of having pro mixing and mastering, I wonder if I'll ever release another track (unless I can figure out to do that on my own and continue to give it all away).

For now, its yours for nothing. Download and share with all my blessings.

the DR