There are two bottles of wine on a menu. One is $9. The other $16. - There are three bottles of wine on the menu - $9, $16 and $34.
Which selection sells the most bottles of $16 wine? The second one, of course. What is considered a bargain is mostly a matter of perception. Marketer and author Seth Godin calls is triangulation. A political writer calls it the "decoy effect". Either way it's a powerful marketing tool that the music industry all but ignores.
Not sure it really applies to "art"? Just remember how consumers reacted when the price of a hot new video dropped to lower than that of a new CD. Suddenly everyone wanted to own something they could rent and will likely only watch once.
Why can't labels offer 3 tracks for $5, a full length album with a few extras like lyrics for $10 and a bundle of an album, bonus tracks, live videos and band interviews (all cheap to produce) for $18. Then on top add a highly limited edition with all the above packaged together with vinyl an an art quality print for $50. All DRM free.
Suddenly the $10 album seems much more reasonably priced.
The casual fan buys the $5 highlights. The cost conscious fans pays $10. And you get $18 or even $50 from the hard core fan who wants everything and is willing to pay for it.
The concert industry learned this a few years ago with high priced gold circle seating, regular reserved seats and very affordable spits on the lawn. This idea alone won't solve the music industry's woes, but as labels look for ways to remind consumers that music has a value worth paying for; this is one approach worth trying.
