no...you're not selling the cd, so no sales tax.
plus, this isn't a business. you need a tax I.D. to collect sales tax.
you have to have a business license to sell stuff.
i think this is moving in the right direction, but still
needs some tweaking.
first, forget the PBS model. you can't take in "donations".
if you take in money, no matter how you get it,
whoever's account it lands in, has to pay taxes on it.
here's a closer analogy-
do you buy girlscout cookies because they're
good cookies, or to help out the girlscouts?
my personal answer would be "a little of both".
if the cookies really sucked, would i still buy them?
probably not. can i get better cookies for cheaper? sure.
what about, if they skipped the cookies and just asked
for money? it's easier to sell cookies.
you need a good product, in a slick package that you
can get a
little more out of than it's probably worth,
w/ the idea that it's helping the cause.
the other benefit is, the artists involved are out there
promoting AM on their sites, forums ect.
realistically, if this was "please help save auralmoon",
it'd be an easier sell. "too many listeners for the bandwidth"
mmm....
not so much .
i'll bet i can find a few PRRN stations that would love
to have that problem.
k