Comments on: I want them to pay!

Question: I want them to pay!

wsg — Wed, 24 May 2006 13:50:36 -0800

What's the simplest way to charge someone to download a song from a web site? Can it be done with Paypal?

By: tysiva

tysiva — Wed, 24 May 2006 14:00:30 -0800

lifehacker just had an article on PayLoadz
which could fit the bill

By: delmoi

delmoi — Wed, 24 May 2006 14:11:27 -0800

Can you add it to itunes or some other already-existing marketplace for digital music? There are some sites out there that sell Indy music.

By: ludwig_van

ludwig_van — Wed, 24 May 2006 14:24:02 -0800

CDBaby will put your tracks on iTunes and other pay-download services.

By: RustyBrooks

RustyBrooks — Wed, 24 May 2006 16:22:27 -0800

You can do it with paypal, but I wouldn't call it simple. Paypal has a mechanism by which you can send a person to paypal, and send paypal the information about the items, their cost, etc, and then paypal will contact you back when the payment clears, and you can give the user a URL or some other stuff to start the download. This basically requires some programming knowledge and it's a little fussy. They have some info on their site about it (you may need to log in). I use this system to sell stuff online (it's the backbone behind antiquemapshop.com (not my site, but I did the payment system for him). I also use it on some of my own sites.

Paypal also has a sort of shopping cart system, which I've never used and so I can't comment on it.

In short, I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a programmer type or know one who will help you out.

By: nanojath

nanojath — Wed, 24 May 2006 18:24:52 -0800

Monetizing digital content is basically what micropayment startup Bitpass does. They have a related music business, Mperia, that is very easy to set up an account on. Buyers have to set up a Bitpass account to be able to purchase, though, and the question of whether their system can get real traction is still up in the air.

In a recent post on Slashdot somebody posted a link showing all of CD Baby's digital music partners, which is probably a pretty good who's who of digital music sellers.