T.W. Walsh and The Soft Drugs: Does free music help sell albums?

Timothy William "T.W." Walsh, the other half of Pedro the Lion, has been working under the name of The Soft Drugs under his own record label called Tower of Song. His first album as The Soft Drugs, In Moderation, was released on June 6 and this month he made the entire album available for free on his website, protected under a Creative Commons license.

The Soft Drugs - The Pitch
The Soft Drugs - Defending the Paint
The Soft Drugs - Brand New Name
The Soft Drugs - Don't Sweat It
The Soft Drugs - Broken Truces

Does making music available for free help sell an album? T.W. Walsh was willing to test it out. Already, Walsh mentions on his blog that his album sales have increased nearly five times after he made it available on his website. He explains the reasoning behind making his album available for free:

"It seems that everyone thinks I’m pissed off that noone bought my record…please don’t misinterpret my tone and come to this conclusion. This experience has simply crystallized many of my ideas about where the music industry is going in a larger sense, and it has illuminated some of the mistakes I made in “releasing” it. Indie rock and music in general cast a large shadow over my life, and I’m just trying to make sense of it all.

So, no need to apologize for not buying it. It’s cool!

Music has two kinds of value: intrinsic and commercial. Intrinsic value is the emotional attachment that the “consumer” feels for the work and the artist. Commercial value is what the consumer is willing to pay for it. My conclusion and the point I’m trying to get across is that these two are no longer related! I can love a record with all my heart and still be unwilling to spend any money for it. Why? Because I already have it. Someone sent me a link to the files on yousendit. Besides, by the time I can buy it (I downloaded it weeks ago), that novelty and magic of the first few listens has passed, and I don’t care so much about reading the liner notes.

What I’m saying is that this is a paradigm shift. If musicians want to make music professionally, they are going to need to get very creative in a business sense. Someone told me recently that there are actual product placements on the new Beyonce album. Wild."

T.W. Walsh is currently working on music for Verschwinden's new independent film Exodus 20:13. All music that Walsh is writing for the film is original, and the plot of the film is described:

"The year is 2013. The population in the United States has grown by 50% in the last four years. Food is scarce. Housing is impossible to find. Unemployment has soared and crime is on the rise. To combat the surging populace and under intense pressure from voters, Congress passes Bill 541R into law, creating one day each year when every US citizen can legally kill one of their fellow Americans."

The Soft Drugs on:
iTunes // Emusic // Undertow // Hype Machine // Elbo.ws

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