Chris Johnson or Shannon Beets wrote:
Not really. The promo item was already made and paid for. Its sale or resale costs the artist nothing. (Unless, of course, you don't purchase a commercial copy of the item in question.) it was paid for by the artist. The only people that make money from promo sales are the label (they make money on all things, even if it's a 'loss') and the guy at the record store that sells it.
Promo items have been a fact of life for a long time, and certainly have less of a potential impact on sales than mp3s...the distribution of promos is finite, and outside of major media markets, spotty. Mp3s can be available anytime and anywhere, for anyone who wants them. the money used to pay for the manufacture and distribution of promo items comes out of the artists pocket. Money used to pay for mp3's comes out of the encoder's pocket. There are many arguments supportting that mp3's hurt record sales, and others that prove the opposite. Radiohead, eminem, to name a few...
Also, let's not forget record club sales... artists get their royalties from record club sales the same as retail.