“To me, if it’s available for free, it’s garbage,” says VAST frontman Jon Crosby.
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He’s speaking, of course, about music downloads. The Texas alt-rocker, who debuted his band on the other side of the digital revolution over a decade ago, has some pretty unconventional ideas.
Back in 2003, after the dissolution of his band’s former label, Elektra, Crosby decided to fight mp3 piracy by making future VAST albums available online for only $2.99.
After beating both Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails to the smash-conventional-distribution-models game, Crosby argues that charging bargain-basement prices for downloads convinces many would-be freeloaders to contribute something, even just a little, in exchange for his music.
“I like the idea of what I do having value. When I was a kid, comic books cost at least a quarter. It wasn’t much, but it meant what you got had some value.”
On the band’s forthcoming sixth album, Me And You (2blossoms), the Austin-based six-piece move away from an acoustic focus and toward an electronic one.
Crosby’s comfortable charting his own course, even if it means getting kicked around by critics. “I just write what works for me and try not think about other people. Sometimes people like it, and sometimes they don’t. Our fans appreciate that I’m trying to make good music.”
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