There is an interesting special offer going on at 2nd Rec. from Hamburg. You can pick a CD from their back catalogue, they send it to you, you listen to it. And THEN you can pay the price you find suitable. If you don’t like it, you pay nothing. If you do, you pay what you find appropriate.

I ordered “The Academic Rise of Falling Drifters”, a remix album from Giardini di Miro. Remix albums are often a mixed bag, I don’t think I would have bought it otherwise. So far I am halfway through the first track, done by my all time favourite Styrofoam. Together with the beautiful cover artwork, this is already a winner.

It is definitely too early to speak of a trend here. But after Radiohead’s album release last month this is the second time professionals give out music on a pay-as-you-like basis. In both cases I feel very good about not wasting money on music I do not know yet. And in both cases: I like the music, so I will pay.

Can we get more?