Who says the recession is over? From the guy selling bootleg CDs on the corner, to kids pushing lemonade on Saturdays, it seems like everyone has a hustle these days. Take a look around. There’s no shortage of people trying to make an extra buck or two… or thousand.
Enter Juliana Hatfield. On May 3rd, the 43-year-old indie songstress announced that she is offering as many as 20 made-to-order, personalized songs for the reasonable price of $1,000 each. (To make things fair, she’ll also be giving away a custom song for free.)
Anyone with an extra grand lying around can send Ms. Hatfield a few personal details along with $1000, then patiently wait three months for their hand-painted, individually numbered CD to arrive in the mailbox.
According to her official website, the song will be recorded in the “mostly acoustic style” of her latest album — Peace and Love — and all proceeds will go towards future projects like the mining of material from her “vast archives.” Who knows, she might even sell enough songs to upgrade from her brother’s eight-track recorder.
As with any piece of art, there is no guarantee on personal taste. While Hatfield is instituting a strict no refund policy, she’s promised to do her best.
“I will put my heart and my head and my imagination into this,” she said, “I hold myself to high standards and if I think I have failed to create an inspired, good-enough song for a particular person or persons, then and only then will I refund the money. But it will have to be my decision.”
Sounds good ma’am. We can’t wait to hear the results of this experiment, but in the meantime, we’ll start saving our allowance.
