The Tatlock article is very interesting. The technology is here, we can't ignore it and must adapt to it. However I'm not convinced that the models which may work for pop records necessarily translate to the folk world, where the market is much smaller.

Firstly, there is the older demographic of folk fans, many of whom don't like downloading and who still prefer to buy CDs. They also like to listen to their music on a stereo, rather than on a computer or MP3 player. So although legal downloading offers the potential for more sales, in reality this is likely to be limited.

Secondly, most folk artists sell most of their CDs at gigs. If you have to ask someone to go home and download it, you've lost the impetus and quite possibly the sale. You need a physical product to sell face-to-face. The margins on small-scale CD production are small and easily eroded by illegal downloads.

Thirdly, giving away CDs on-line in order to attract people to live gigs doesn't work for the small scale events where most folk artists perform. For the average performer the fees from live gigs aren't big enough to compensate for the loss of CD sales.

So, how can we make it work?