Did you support the RadioHead music revolution?
Published by Rags
November 6th, 2007 7:36 pm
It turns out most people chose the option of paying nothing for the RadioHead album. I did too.
Free beats fee for Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’
Of those who downloaded Radiohead’s digital album, In Rainbows last month, about 62 percent walked away with the music without paying a cent, reported ComScore, an Internet research company.
I know others have said about how music is not about rationality but it turns out not all share that minority opinion. There sure must be an handful who paid much more than the album price. But in the end, it turns out most people after all are rational and chose Free.
If you had paid much more than free, feel free (no pun) to post your comment on how wrong I am or how the music revolution started by RadioHead was nipped in its bud.
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November 6th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
Rags, I would guess a ratio of payment vs. non-payment of over 0.5 would blow away the ratio between digital copying vs. online music sales for music on record labels. Do you think there’s any chance a few of those 62 percent will clamor to purchase tickets to their upcoming tour? Maybe take home a $50 t-shirt to show off their coolness? Radiohead may just manage to recoup their (minimal) costs after all. I’m guessing they’re running at a margin that would make a crack dealer blush.
What percentage of the $8.05 paid on average by Americans went to Radiohead? And how do you think that percentage compares to the percentage going to bands when their record labels sell music online?
Since Napster, free has always been an option. Radiohead didn’t try to change that - they did, however, strengthen their relationship with their current and potential fans. I’m guessing they’re going to do just fine financially, despite your giddy freeloading. The record labels are the only ones I see missing out here.
From http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=d4cd339c-2e60-4d1e-9808-5f54d47f525d&sid=fd-news :
“The question is: How will new artists be able to use this [pay what you like] model in the future if they haven’t built a fan base in the millions in the years leading up to the release of their album under [this] model?”
I suggest Michael Laskow read http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/how-much-for-that-song-its-up-to-you/
November 7th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Hi actually forked out a couple of pounds for the album. I used to subscribe to Nate’s point about supporting artist’s through merchandise and ticket sales. It is a sad fact that most artists (those who don’t have mega-star status) get a small percentage of the CDs actual revenue.
I think Radiohead is onto something. It reminds me of when folks like Wilco and Smashing Pumpkins released albums for free.
November 9th, 2007 at 9:01 am
Radiohead recently made a press release in response to the reports about their album sales. While they stopped short of quoting actual figures, they called the report “wholly inaccurate”.
The argument they made was that Comscore, who published the report, is merely a third party and does not have access to actual sales data. Therefore, their information is purely speculative.
http://www.techconsumer.com/2007/11/08/radiohead-responds-to-download-stats-says-theyre-false/
I wouldn’t write these guys off yet. Although, the truest measure of success in this industry is longetivity. So we’ll see where Radiohead is 5 years from now…
November 9th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
A previous post in DMEC blog talked about how music albums will become marketing vehicles for artists and stop being revenue generators. With Rainbows, RadioHead not only turned the album itself into a marketing vehicle but also the very process of doing it. They received (deservedly so) enough exposure and media time due to this process. I don’t seriously believe they did this free scheme because they are starting a revolution but doing it because they are little bit ahead of the curve in understanding where the revenues will shift to.
62% of the people aren’t freeloaders, $0.00 was a valid price accepted by RadioHead, and they didn’t deny the resources to someone else who was willing to pay.
December 5th, 2007 at 12:16 am
After watching every video on the following web page, I am now a fan.
http://www.stereogum.com/archives/video/radioheadtv.html
March 3rd, 2008 at 1:57 pm
[…] band Nine Inch Nails is the latest musical group to offer an alternative for fans to consume its music beyond the traditional music business model. The band cut ties with its record labellast year, and has begun to offer various methods for consumers to get its new music, including a free option. Hopefully more artists will follow the lead of NIN’s front man Trentas well as the band Radiohead, who last year offered its tracks on a web site for a price determined by each individual consumer. Bravo! […]