Popcuts

Jason Kincaid at TechCrunch ran a post on Popcuts recently. Here's how it began:

The web is full of hipsters scouring the indie music scene for the next big thing. And while there is no shortage of communities where these trendsetters can share their picks, they’ve never stood to gain anything from being ahead of the crowd (aside from a slight sense of superiority). Popcuts, a Y Combinator-funded music store that launches today in public beta, is looking to reward these early adopters by paying store credit to the first people who buy a song that later goes on to become popular.

More here. And, of course, more at the Popcuts site:

Buy a song.

You know quality music when you hear it. Download DRM-free songs for 99¢.
Get rewarded for your good taste with store credit.

Get paid when it sells again.

Every time a song you bought sells, you get a cut of the proceeds.
Earlier buyers get more, so it pays to be a trendspotter.

If they've figured their percentages correctly, this sounds like a potential moneymaker. Since they're selling the songs themselves, Popcut makes money whether the song goes popular or it doesn't.

TechCrunch seems to be the big publicist for this one; the @popcuts Twitter account includes a thank you tweet.