Gregg Gillis (Girl Talk) releases new mashup album only online for free

Artist Gregg Gillis released a new album today under his mashup moniker Girl Talk. It is very much a mashup album (mixing together of other well-known songs) blending tracks from over 300 artists into one 70+ minute track. I ill not begin to critique the album as this is of little importance here. What I would like to do is touch briefly on the evolution of the music industry and the internet.
The album is being released through the record label's website aptly named illegal-art.net. In recent years many artists have begun to release their work in such a way (NIN, Radiohead, etc). The artists know that people are going to pirate it so they just put it online for free and as in the case of Radiohead simply ask their patrons to contribute whatever they can afford, be it .10 or 100.00. In some cases this has proven to be more effective than a traditional release as diehard fans wish to support their favorite bands and the money goes directly to the artists bypassing the record label's ridiculous release and marketing fees. The free releases are then promoted through mass emails and heavily through social media (which is how I found out about today's freebie). Way to go bands, sticking it to the man!

http://illegal-art.net/allday/