The artist once again known as Prince was onto something when he sold his five-CD set “Crystal Ball” exclusively on the Web without the help of record companies, distributors, or record stores. On his website, he advertised the album and told his fans he would release not one song until he had 100,000 pre-orders for the entire record. He sold 250,000 copies and kept 95 percent of the revenue which industry experts estimate at $5 million.
Via Scripting News, [1] Making money in a “copyright-free” world. [2]
While I don't agree with the notion that copyrights should be abolished outright (anyone who thinks so should bone up on their history, especially France just after the French Revolution) but it is good to hear that several experiements of direct artist-consumer marketing are working and working well.
Granted, the examples are big name artists but someone has to take the risk, and these guys can afford to do that.