[mashmac2]

Derek Webb (article author) has been pushing alternative distribution for music for a long time... well before it was popular. Take a look at his most recent album's store: http://derekwebb.com/store/feedback Different options for different levels of fan, fairly common these days, but Derek has been doing this a long time.

I discovered him after he gave away his 2005 album, Mockingbird (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockingbird_(album))

[jamesgeck0]

I first saw him at a concert at my university in 2006. He did a Q&A session afterward, during which time he said he was OK with the audience copying his music if they couldn't afford it.

His rationale was that he first learned about a lot of his favorite bands via illegal mix tapes, but later bought their work. He views it as marketing, as far as I can tell.