We’ve heard by now that Radiohead made the most money from an album when they released In Rainbows with a pay-what-you-want system. Also recently, a few indie video game developers got together to offer a bundle of games using the same payment model with the Humble Indie Bundle. They made over one million dollars.
Last week, I was on a road trip listening to a podcast for This American Life. Ira Glass came on at the beginning of the podcast and gave an inspiring speech on the subject of the pay-what-you-want model for his program. Ira does a really amazing job with calls-to-action. He knows how to make you feel bad and feel good at the same time. Here is what he said:
“Why don’t we just charge for the podcast? The answer is: We don’t want to because fewer people would actually hear the podcast. We like it to be free and idealistically we like the idea that it should be possible to do ambitious stories and try things that nobody else is doing on radio or on podcast and pay for the whole thing by asking the people who listen to kick in a couple bucks each. I believe in that. I’ve thrown money at podcasts I like. It’s still really cheap entertainment. If thats going to be the future of media, I like that future. If you like that future too even a little bit go to our website and click the donate button at thisamericanlife.org.” – Ira Glass ep. #409 – Held Hostage – Chicago Public Radio
Would a system like this work for Hulu? How about a single show like Lost? What about a Newspaper?
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