Thinking about something Intelligent Machinery chairman John Ingram brought up, I wonder if there is much of an audience for music available free on the web?

Certainly when discussing music with others, few people mention much in the way of free music or things they are listening to from netlabels. I have to wonder if the glut of free music is too much for most listeners? And those brave enough to venture out toward free music have so much to choose from that they move on fairly quickly to something new?

Even many net radio stations–Stillstream.com for example–which used to play primarily free music, seems to play significantly less now. Are most folk too accustomed to the label/radio/shop/television as filtering mechanism, that they just aren’t interested in listening to something they might not like in order to find something that they might? I’ve heard a lot of terrible free music on the web, sure, but I’ve also heard some of my absolute favourite music, too.

I have a feeling tapping into the mechanisms of commerce might be a surer way of finding a mainstay audience than putting up a “free music” sign, as perverse as that may seem. It’s only a feeling though, can’t say I know if going commercial would be of much use either, given the stories I’ve heard from folk who do try to sell their stuff.

Strangely, while I listen to lots of free music on the web, I listen to less now than I used to, and listen to a lot more things I’ve downloaded through my subscription with eMusic. So it seems I, too, am under the sway of commerce, programmed sheep-like along with the rest of the world.