43 Folders

Back to Work

Merlin’s weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.

Join us via RSS, iTunes, or at 5by5.tv.

”What’s 43 Folders?”
43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.

iTunes customization; Back-channel artist payments

furialog: iTunes Customization

Before Tiger renders some large amount of it obsolete, I want to make some notes about my customized iTunes configuration. The actual Applescript code is too obscure and specific to be very enlightening, but possibly a brief description of the overall flow would be of interest to others....

For artists who accept electronic payment via Paypal or credit cards, the database records the relevant payment info. A separate nightly perl script issues electronic payments (via CapitolOne’s excellent web-services “micropayment” (sic) interface) where possible (batched until the amount exceeds $1.75), and for artists without electronic payment info, totals the corresponding amounts and transfers the overall total to the money-market escrow account I have for this purpose.

The balls-out geekiness of Glenn’s intricate iTunes scripting deserves a shout-out on its own, but I also just like the underlying logic of it; “help me learn (and benefit) from what I do, not what I say I do or what I think I do.” So smart.

I also love that he’s making a formal effort to send a little dough the artists’ way—even if it’s not via the piano-roll-riffic methodology that the RIAA and the plastic disc salesmen at the majors would have us cleave to (until they deign to join us in the 21st Century).

I’m going to try and prod Glenn to share a bit of the code behind this; I’m sure that there’s a bunch of us who would enjoy a smarter iTunes experience and could benefit from insight into his scripts. And I can think of a few artists who would really like to see their fan-by-fan popularity turn into a few extra ducats where it can.

[Hat tip to Gabe Roth for the link]

Update 2005-04-19 09:15:42 - Oh, man was I snookered. See Glenn's response in comments. PayPal bit below stands, either way.


On an only slightly unrelated note, I do wish that bands would make a point of opening a PayPal account and making it unapologetically easy to find and patronize. I know that business models eventually will evolve to pay labels and artists for “preview” copies we’ve stumbled across on the Interweb, but until they do, I would love to have an easy way to say “thanks” before a record even hits the meatspace shelves.

Understand: this would be a band-aid (so to speak); it’s not a perfect system, but it’s something, and I imagine it could help to offset some of the income loss associated with unpaid downloading. Nice way to vote with your wallet as well as your ears and fawning LiveJournal posts.

Anybody know of artists and labels that are doing this well right now?

About Merlin

Merlin's picture

Bio

Merlin Mann is an independent writer, speaker, and broadcaster. He’s best known for being the guy who created the website you’re reading right now. He lives in San Francisco, does lots of public speaking, and helps make cool things like You Look Nice Today, Back to Work, and Kung Fu Grippe. Also? He’s writing this book, he lives with this face, he suffers from this hair, he answers these questions, and he’s had this life. So far.

Merlin’s favorite thing he’s written in the past few years is an essay entitled, “Cranking.”

 
EXPLORE 43Folders THE GOOD STUFF

Popular
Today

Popular
Classics

An Oblique Strategy:
Honor thy error as a hidden intention


STAY IN THE LOOP:

Subscribe with Google Reader

Subscribe on Netvibes

Add to Technorati Favorites

Subscribe on Pageflakes

Add RSS feed

The Podcast Feed

Cranking

Merlin used to crank. He’s not cranking any more.

This is an essay about family, priorities, and Shakey’s Pizza, and it’s probably the best thing he’s written. »

Scared Shitless

Merlin’s scared. You’re scared. Everybody is scared.

This is the video of Merlin’s keynote at Webstock 2011. The one where he cried. You should watch it. »