Asthmatic Kitty Records adopts critic-based pricing

Those lovable folks over at Asthmatic Kitty Records have adopted critic-based pricing:

...while we were reading Pitchfork’s review of Grampall Jookabox’s new album, Ropechain, we started to wonder: who’s thinking about the music critics here? Everyone is looking to the consumer for guidance on pricing in an Internet-driven world, but don’t music reviewers deserve some attention?

Today we are officially experimenting with what we call the Critic-Based Pricing Structure. Instead of selling Ropechain for our standard $10, or letting consumers pick their own price, we have let Pitchfork determine the price. Pitchfork gave Ropechain a 5.4. So, for the next 54 hours, Grampall Jookabox’s Ropechain album is available for just $5.40 (+S&H). That’s right, $5.40.

They even made a music video for Grampall Jookabox’s “Let’s Go Mad” to commemorate the occasion.