"Tunecore will charge just $31 a year in upfront fees to handle a 10-track CD from pressing to delivery, passing all other costs through to the buyer. In other words, the service promises to remove nearly all of the risks of short-run CD manufacturing, which can cost musicians hundreds or even thousands of dollars for discs that rarely sell enough to cover expenses."

Innovation rather than stagnation — what's the music world coming to?

«"I think the actual market clearing price of 90 percent of the inventory is free, and that they could do a better job of bundling packages of 100-200 songs for $5 to $10," said Ashcroft.»