Nick, Harvey Danger Releases Full Album Free Online

On their homepage, which is very Web 2.0, Harvey Danger has put out their newest full length album for public and free download. The album is the first after a 5 year respite and is called “Little by Little…”. So, guess what? They’re in the know. And there’s no reason for you to not see if you like them.

The question about whether or not one should put their album out for free isn’t just about whether or not free download means bad record sales/donations. Rather, the real question that makes or breaks any album on any filesharing network is, “Is the album good for any reason to you?” When an album is good, people find out about the album and become fans of that music. And with the point of entry at computer-people’s fingertips, how good an album is carries a band a long way. Some of these new people buy the album, some don’t. But some of these new people buy the album! My guess is that for Harvey Danger, these new fans can contribute a lot to their popularity in different ways.

It was wixed easy to donate to them — go here. Welcome to Harvey Danger — listen!

Still, the question here about record sales is really a distracting question from the big, actual answer to what is good for music, bands and fans. It is possible to have a music industry where everyone wins — a voluntary collective licensing system where you pay 5 or 10 dollars a month for completely rampant filesharing capabilities and the money gets divided among musicians by popularity. With VCL, Harvey Danger wouldn’t be going out on a limb and having a fair or unfair advantage over non-“sharing” bands. Instead of, “will people buy my record if it’s free?”, the question will really be about, “is my isht good?” Putting an album on bit torrent won’t be so much about strategy, it’ll be about being findable in the largest music library around. It’s no holds barred, really. Every good band has every opportunity to find their audience and no one would think about danger. Instead these guys feel the pressure to be savvy and make it really easy to buy their cd or donate to them to go with their open fashion. The “Download” tab on their webpage comes before the “Store” tab; they’re conscious of putting their UI design where their mouth is.

These are their reasons for making a move. Important quote of note: “Making the record freely downloadable removes the main barrier that exists between an artist and the world of potential listeners.”

Who wants to meet me at the Newbs in Shoesbury?