A moment in time from the band archives: Jets Overhead’s decision to make its music available via a voluntary purchase model on jetsoverhead.com in 2006 – over a year before Radiohead eventually popularized the model with In Rainbows – was recognized by press at the time as a pioneering decision in the early era of the digital revolution, as it foresaw universal music access through streaming. This is the original band statement that was posted here on jetsoverhead.com on May 25, 2006:

Voluntary Purchase of Free Downloads: We believe that new systems for distributing music should be driven by the public rather than by existing paradigms which no longer apply to the digital world. We believe that we all deserve freedom of choice in determining how to acquire music legally (including licensed P2P, digital music stores, traditional CD retail, etc), and we believe the core values of portability and ease of acquisition are central to the future. We believe that the importance of music in our daily lives is stronger than ever thanks to file-sharing and the digital revolution, but that the record business needs to adapt as soon as possible to a changed world. Until this happens, we are happy to give away music through the free downloads on the left, as this is the only method available to us for worldwide distribution. However, we do believe that in principle music should be paid for, and that eventually the industry will adapt with flexibility rather than prosecution. If in the meantime you would like to support the band by voluntarily paying for downloaded songs that you enjoy and plan to continue listening to, please follow the button below to a PayPal link.

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