Jason Dunn
11-16-2004, 04:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65688,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1' target='_blank'>http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65688,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Giving away an album online isn't the way most artists end up with gold records. But it worked out that way for Wilco. After being dropped from Reprise Records in 2001 over creative conflicts surrounding Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the Chicago-based band committed what some thought would be suicide -- they streamed it online for free. The album's subsequent release on Nonesuch debuted higher on the charts than any of their prior releases. That success gave both band and label confidence to try new internet forays: the first-ever MPEG-4 webcast with Apple, as well as more free online offerings of live shows and an EP's worth of fresh tracks. The band's 2004 release, A Ghost Is Born, hit No. 8 on the Billboard charts -- their highest position to date."</i><br /><br />It's interesting to read something like this coming from a musician, and that file swapping boosted their record sales.