[Fliko]

Saul Williams has always said he was very happy with the result despite 80% of downloaders taking it for free.

Trent made a point later on the nin forum that allowing people to choose how much your product is worth really devalues it, but offering it at a cheap but fair price (say $5) doesn't devalue it.

Personally I think the best model is setting a cheap bottom line that people can pay for your product, and letting them pay more if they feel it is worth more (adding extra stuff for the people who pay more is good too, like a physical copy of the CD for people who pay $20). You don't have to use your bandwidth to give it out for free, the pirates will do that and I think it's safe to say that if someone pirates your album they are probably going to turn into a fan (or be turned off).