

Radiohead to give away free download of new album











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By TomZ on 10/1/2007 4:25:31 PM , Rating: 2
This is a brilliant move by Radiohead - it works at all levels. With low overhead, most people will probably pay something, and like you said, they have the deluxe kit for hardcore fans. Radiohead has been very successful to date, and so this offering also acknowledges they probably have already earned enough money to ensure a comfortable living even without tons of new revenue from this album. I also think this is a nod or thank-you to Radiohead fans as well.

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By tcsenter on 10/2/2007 2:23:24 PM , Rating: 1
Radiohead offers new album online, allows consumers to decide price
'Between-the-lines' reading:

A very successful touring band with over 10 million albums sold, all of which it owes entirely to the 'old' business model (representing those corporate interests against which their political music loved to rail), decides it can well-afford to experiment with a new business model that lets consumers decide whether to pay (or not) thanks to the millions of dollars and fame it already made on the 'old' business model, and in doing so, tells not-yet-known bands its too bad for them that they were born 10 years too late.

It is indeed a brilliant marketing plan. How do you get people to actually buy your music? You don't! Give the music away [ostensibly] for nothing, hitching your [marketing] wagon to a wave of anti-RIAA sentiment, and all the lemmings will want to reward you by paying $80 for a nifty merchandizing fan-pack.

Totally self-serving, devilishly manipulative, and completely contrary to the band's perceived 'altuistic' or 'common good' political pretenses, but brilliant.

Reminds me of when Justin Frankel decried AOL for being so profit-minded and that, as a new shareholder, he wanted AOL to be a more charitable corporate citizen... after Frankel got his $50 million from AOL, of course. lol!

i.e. "OK, I've got my $50 million, now I want the company to be kinder, gentler, and less profit minded."

I guess Frankel overlooked that AOL had already performed one of the most charitable gestures in corporate history - paying many times more for Nullsoft than it was worth (irrational exuberance being a sign of those times and all).

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By SirLucius on 10/2/2007 2:59:18 PM , Rating: 3
You need to keep in mind two things, though.

1.) A distribution method like this wouldn't have been possible 10 years ago. Even if Radiohead had wanted to do something like this, how would they go about it? Send you the CD for free and then ask you to send back some cash if you like it? No sir, that wouldn't work at all. Only with the recent boom of a digital distribution of music would this be possible.

2.) Radiohead isn't the first band to do this. One example that comes to mind is of the indie progressive metal band, the pax cecilia. They had a similar distribution method. You could download their album for free or give like a $10 donation, or you could order their CD for a slightly higher fee. Nobody made any fuss about this because, well, nobody has heard of the pax cecilia. In order for a distribution method like this to become accepted it'll take a well known name like Radiohead (that has presence in the market and an established fanbase) to push it forward.

Saying that this is Radiohead's way of saying sorry to new indies bands is just a little unfair, especially since I think this distribution method could be more profitable for bands than the old one.

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By TwistyKat on 10/2/2007 3:09:51 PM , Rating: 2
Well, it's a great idea and I like it, but it wasn't brilliant on their part. Jane Siberry is already doing this.

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