Sure its a good idea all round, everyone is looking for the next best thing, its a recession and free appeals to everyone

if a band truly wants to make music and get a following then releasing EP's free cannot be a bad idea, if your in it to make money, they likelyhood is this model wont appeal to you to start, but eventually the following gained if your half decent from people learning about your music and spreading to friends could mean better gigs and more profitable gigs

if a band were signed they wouldnt get much from the record companies, so no harm to get used to the idea that the majority of money to be earned in a band is from gigs and merch

Thanks for the post, and I'm glad that the model appeals! Best of luck with it all.

Dean
R&R