Does free music help music sales?

I've been asked, "Does giving away some of your music for free help music sales?"

I've thought about the answer to that question... The absolute, crystal-clear, unmitigated answer is, "yes."

But probably not like you might think.

Giving away music does not seem have a clear, numeric mark on CD sales, album sales, singles sales, or ticket sales. Rather, giving away music gives exposure to an artist/artiste.

Exposure is good. And, sometimes, exposure means marketable success. Sometimes, exposure means exposure - but with no other end result.

As always, many things are at play when it comes to sales success. What is the quality of the music? Has the music been exposed to an audience that is likely to accept the music? Is it the right time period for the music's flavor, intent, or texture?

Is there passion in the music? Is the music mindless commercial drivel, or is it music that the musicians were so into the music that they couldn't wait to play?

Return to the original question... does free music help music sales? If someone gets music from a free mechanism, and the music makes it through to the listener's heart, then the tune and the artist are set up to be a success in the listener's mind.

If the listener is likely to purchase music, and can get at non-free-for-use music, shows, or merchandise, something interesting happens: the user queues up stuff they've heard and liked for purchasing.

It then becomes a matter of what makes the listener happy.

Not the boardroom of a corporation.

Not the pundits in the radio stream (from success-is-dollars-only crowd).

It is a matter of what makes the listener happy. And if you can get in the ears of more listeners, you've got more chances to make a listener happy.

If you're trying for success in music sales, worry about the listeners first. The other stuff will fall into place in a manageable way if the listeners are happy.