Article on musicians' use of the Internet

This is an interesting article from NYTimes.com about how musicians and artists are using the internet to successfully promote themselves online. Artists are using a lot of smart techniques to foster community-based relationships with their fans. My favorite is Canadian folk-pop singer Jane Siberry's "pay what you can" policy. Fans can download her songs for free, but her site also lists the average price that paying fans give, which turns out to be in the area of $1.30 per song. ITunes is $0.99 - so what gives here? The fact is that people are willing to pay more when they feel like they're supporting something they're truly committed to. In a way its like Public TV played out at the individual (or band) level.