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New Radiohead album for as little as nothing.

DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
edited October 2007 in Strut Central
From Radiohead themselves. But wait, there's more. Interesting approach - "we think a sound file on its own is fairly worthless, but if you're willing to pay a premium, we'll give you something nice for your money."

  Comments

  • yuichiyuichi Urban sprawl 11,332 Posts
    To me, this is brilliant. It helps that they have a strong following. I could imagine artists like Fiona Apple going about her next release with a similar creative flair. But at the same time, it shows that even quality product has to try harder to maintain sales. The internet sucks.
  • magpaulmagpaul 1,314 Posts
    To me, this is brilliant. It helps that they have a strong following. I could imagine artists like Fiona Apple going about her next release with a similar creative flair. But at the same time, it shows that even quality product has to try harder to maintain sales. The internet sucks.

    i dunno if Radiohead are doing it to mantain sales so much as stick two fingers at the music industry. i don't know why Fiona Apple springs to mind (apart from the label woes) but Radiohead are perfect, their fans are such frenzied internet geeks clinging to every lo-fi bootleg of Thom Yorke singing whilst taking a shit, that it is guaranteed a big impact.

    i wonder what the anti-download/pro-industry types think of this.
  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    To me, this is brilliant. It helps that they have a strong following. I could imagine artists like Fiona Apple going about her next release with a similar creative flair. But at the same time, it shows that even quality product has to try harder to maintain sales. The internet sucks.

    i dunno if Radiohead are doing it to mantain sales so much as stick two fingers at the music industry. i don't know why Fiona Apple springs to mind (apart from the label woes) but Radiohead are perfect, their fans are such frenzied internet geeks clinging to every lo-fi bootleg of Thom Yorke singing whilst taking a shit, that it is guaranteed a big impact.

    i wonder what the anti-download/pro-industry types think of this.

    It's worth pointing out that the album will get a conventional CD release early next year.

    To me, it's like they're saying the following;

    a) If you believe music should be free or you're just a downloading fool, then knock yourself out.

    b) If you're prepared to pay for a (presumably DRM-free) download, but believe it should cost significantly less than a hard copy, then pay as much as you think it's worth.

    c) If you're prepared to pay a premium, then here's the album in an array of different formats, with flashy packaging, additional material that's unavailable elsewhere, and sundry other bells and whistles, rather than something which is just a regular CD with couple of bonus tracks and an EPK masquerading as an "exclusive" DVD.

    You can get with this, etc.
  • magpaulmagpaul 1,314 Posts
    they need a disclaimer on their website saying bands should only attempt this if they are already rich.
  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    they need a disclaimer on their website saying bands should only attempt this if they are already rich.

    There's nothing to stop "poor" acts doing this. Many of them already do, albeit on a far smaller scale. What should be interesting is the number of big or mid-level acts who follow suit, and how far down the idea trickles. It'll be especially interesting to see which of those record companies still frantically searching round for a "new business model" will be taking notes and seeing how they can apply the idea to their roster.
  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1666973,00.html

    I'm not a big radiohead fan, but I'm still finding this very interesting. How much do you guys feel the new Radiohead CD is worth?

    I'll donate 6.99 to the Radiohead fund.

    - spidey
  • onetetonetet 1,754 Posts
    they need a disclaimer on their website saying bands should only attempt this if they are already rich.

    There's nothing to stop "poor" acts doing this.

    I dunno about that. There's two reasons Radiohead may be able to pull off this approach, both specific to them, while others wouldn't be able to:

    1)The massive amount of publicity they're getting for basically acknowledging a pre-existing phenomenon (massive free downloading of music).

    2)The lavish package Radiohead's offering to those fans who want something the deluxe version: CD and vinyl together with bonus discs, etc -- for $80. How many bands can both afford to press a package like that for their new album and expect people to pay $80 for it?

    Radiohead can probably:

    sell 10,000 copies of the $80 deluxe edition, minimum
    pull in $1,000,000 in pay-what-you-want downloads
    still sell 1,000,000 standard CD copies of the disc when it's released in 2008
  • ZEN2ZEN2 1,540 Posts
  • grandpa_shiggrandpa_shig 5,799 Posts
    i am intrigued by the radiohead turdcutter raer.
  • hogginthefogghogginthefogg 6,098 Posts
    sundry other bells and whistles

    Just wanted to say that your English is great and that I often enjoy it, for free, via the Internet. Were you to offer longer posts once a year or so, I might consider paying for them.

    Carry on.
  • Pistol_PetePistol_Pete 1,289 Posts
    I'm really curious to see what the average amount paid will be after the first month or so.
    I'd throw about $5.
  • BsidesBsides 4,244 Posts
    i think the high price limited box set thing is genius. Making the music basicly free to download is pretty smart too. that way its not like the real world product is just some crap you will throw away after its on your ipod., its actually a limited high quality object that fans will want to collect and carries its own prestige.
  • JimBeamJimBeam Seattle. 2,012 Posts
    this move makes so much sense-- moving away from a fixed pricing structure on what is essentially an intangible object (music) and pricing physical items. Whether or not they are creating an artificial scarcity, thus pushing a price to $80 (that's a lot!) on the "special" set or not is debatable, but this mode of music distribution, literally "direct from the artist" is definitely progressive.

    Since such a popular band is actually putting themselves into a position to do this, it may catalyze a sustainable business model for the music distribution industry in the future. I definitely think the majors will be watching, as they may see a bit of the future in this little experiment. They'll be looking for some place (if any) they can actually fit into this.
  • hammertimehammertime 2,389 Posts
    Radiohead can probably:

    sell 10,000 copies of the $80 deluxe edition, minimum
    pull in $1,000,000 in pay-what-you-want downloads
    still sell 1,000,000 standard CD copies of the disc when it's released in 2008


    exactly...the point is clearly, even when you make the music available for free, if it's quality material done in a quality manner, people will still buy the "real thing".
  • onetetonetet 1,754 Posts
    Radiohead can probably:

    sell 10,000 copies of the $80 deluxe edition, minimum
    pull in $1,000,000 in pay-what-you-want downloads
    still sell 1,000,000 standard CD copies of the disc when it's released in 2008


    exactly...the point is clearly, even when you make the music available for free, if it's quality material done in a quality manner, people will still buy the "real thing".

    Yes, if you're Radiohead. But I was trying to make the point that a smaller band couldn't do this; making the full tracklist available for free downland would eat into sales of their bare-bones CD edition, and most non-Radiohead bands can't even afford to press $80 deluxe editions, let alone entice people to buy em.
  • hammertimehammertime 2,389 Posts
    right, but they aren't commenting on smaller bands, they're commenting on the major labels that are whining that downloading is killing their industry, when it's really their shitty product that started this whole thing.
  • JimBeamJimBeam Seattle. 2,012 Posts
    right, but they aren't commenting on smaller bands, they're commenting on the major labels that are whining that downloading is killing their industry, when it's really their shitty product, implicitly collusive album pricing and their inability to adapt their model to a consumer market that demands a different mode of product distribution[/b] that started this whole thing.
    I'm really looking forward to this whole thing. I think it's a very bold move on Radiohead's part to basically kick the majors in the ass, as they are currently not affiliated with any label.
  • onetetonetet 1,754 Posts
    right, but they aren't commenting on smaller bands, they're commenting on the major labels that are whining that downloading is killing their industry, when it's really their shitty product that started this whole thing.

    I hear you -- I was making that point in response to someone here that was saying that essentially anyone can do what Radiohead is doing. I think the band's approach w/ this new album is valid and I'll follow it with interest.
  • observobserv 55 Posts
    Trent Reznor Speaks out Against Ridiculous Cd prices in Australia (fuck RIAA related)

    http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9020/Trent+Reznor+Tells+Australian+Crowd+to+%27Steal+My+Music%27
  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    Well.. I gotta give it up to the band for there promptness. Fresh out of the email, a nifty little download link. I'm sure by now it's all over sendspace and Megaupload. The album itself unfortunately aint too much to write home about. If you liked the last one you'll like this one. If you didn't like it, don't bother. I liked the QOTSA-ish Bodysnatchers, I'm also feeling the Jigsaw track. Would I go back and pay for this, probably not. But, I'd imagine alot of people would.

    - spidey
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