Offering your album online for free seems to becoming quite a trend these days. The concept was pioneered by acts like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, and the latest group to jump on the bandwagon is Smashing Pumpkins.
The band began recording its 44-track opus, titled Teargarden by Kaleidyscope and aims to have the first song available by Halloween. The band says it wants to release one song at a time with each one following the other after a short time.
“Each song will be made available absolutely for free, to anyone anywhere,” says a post on the band’s blog. “There will be no strings attached. Free will mean free, which means you won’t have to sign up for anything, give an email address, or jump through a hoop. You will be able to go and take the song or songs as you wish, as many times as you wish.”
The band will eventually compile the whole thing into a box set after releasing 11 “highly limited edition” EPs of 4 songs each. This is where the band is apparently hoping to make money off the effort.
“Because the songs themselves will be free, the EP’s will be more like collectors items for the discerning fan who will want the art itself, along with the highest possible audio quality available,” the band says. “The EP’s will be more like mini-box sets rather than your normal cd single. We may also offer other variations for sale, say for example a digital single with a demo version of a song. The commitment that is most important is the one I’m making to you: that the music of ‘Teargarden by Kaleidyscope’ will be available for free to everyone. All 44 songs: free for ALL.”
On a related note, Billy Corgan, frontman of the group, also has a new personal blog. Although, I wouldn’t expect much in the way of updates on Teargarden by Kaleidyscope there. The blog is apparently for his spiritual thoughts.
