Free Ben Folds Five download

Things are very exciting in the music world this week. By that I mean things are very exciting to ME this week (and probably lots of other people too). I will relate this in the order I discovered it. First, I discovered through following Neil Gaiman on Twitter (@neilhimself) that Amanda Palmer (love) was releasing a new album and looking for backers starting from $1. Investigations revealed her kickstarter page. She's teamed up with the Grand Theft Orchestra to make a new album, without the support of a record label. So to raise the $100, 000 needed they started a kickstarter page. All kinds of amazing rewards for backing are on offer, from a download of the new album for $1 all the way to the entire band coming over to your house to pose for photos with you and eat Thai food for $10, 000.  There are lots of facebook groups set up to raise enough money for the 'House Party' reward ($5, 000).  At the time of writing this the amount they've raised is $619, 841. That is astounding!

Then none other than the Ben Folds Five leapt aboard the "ditching the record labels" wagon. They're releasing their first album in 12 years! Woo! Their pledge page is here. A pledge of $10 gets you a download of their new album when it's released. They've already reached 197% of their target and a lot of the 'rewards' (signed CDs, t-shirts etc.) have already all gone. What's really exciting about this is that they're turning to their fans to help advertise the album and produce artwork for it's promotion. Also, they've put up a free download of a new track. You can get it below:

2012 is shaping up to be a good year! I'm now trying to find the perfect picture of the Ben Folds Five to make into felt.