Radiohead digital release with no set price

[Nikolas]

A record price for a Radiohead album: $0

The famed British band lets fans decide what to pay for a new release online.

By Geoff Boucher and Chris Lee, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
October 2, 2007

The great riddle facing the record industry in the digital age has been pricing. Napster and its ilk puckishly offered music for "free" in the late 1990s, and the major labels have largely clung to an average of $13 for CDs despite plummeting sales and seasons of downsizing.

Now, one of the world's most acclaimed rock bands, Radiohead, is answering that marketplace riddle with a shrug. "It's up to you," reads a message on the Web page where fans can pre-order the band's highly anticipated seventh album and pay whatever they choose, including nothing.

The British band, which has twice been nominated for a best album Grammy, will sidestep the conventional industry machinery altogether Oct. 10 by releasing the album "In Rainbow" as a digital download with no set price. The album will be available only from the band and at radiohead.com, its official site.

It may sound like a gimmicky promotion, but industry observers Monday framed it in more historical terms: Radiohead, they said, is the right band at the right time to blaze a trail of its own choosing.

"This is all anybody is talking about in the music industry today," said Bertis Downs, the longtime manager of R.E.M., the veteran alt-rock band that was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. "This is the sort of model that people have been talking about doing, but this is the first time an act of this stature has stepped up and done it. . . . They were a band that could go off the grid, and they did it."

Another high-profile manager said he was still trying to process the boldness of the Radiohead venture. "My head is spinning, honestly," said Kelly Curtis, who represents Seattle-based Pearl Jam. "It's very cool and very inspiring, really."

Radiohead is hardly abandoning the idea of making money.

Its website will also sell a deluxe edition of "In Rainbow" that comes with versions in three formats (CD, vinyl and download) along with eight bonus songs and a lavish hardcover book with lyrics, photos and a slipcase. That package costs 40 British pounds (about $82).

In the coming weeks, Courtyard Management, which represents the band, will reportedly negotiate with labels about a conventional release for "In Rainbow" that would put it on store shelves in 2008. Sources with the band acknowledge that the major labels may balk at the notion of releasing an album that has been available free for months. Still, previous Radiohead albums collectively sell about 300,000 copies a year, according to Nielsen SoundScan, so "In Rainbow" should still have value at the cash register.

"Only a band in Radiohead's position could pull a trick like this," is how Pitchforkmedia.com summed it up Monday. That's because the band became a free agent after its contract with music giant EMI expired with its most recent album, "Hail to the Thief" in 2003. That set the stage for a one-band revolution, even if the five members don't see it that way themselves.

"It's more of an experiment. The band is not fighting for the sake of the fight or trying to lead a revolution," said their spokesman, Steve Martin of New York publicity firm Nasty Little Man. The group declined to comment Monday.

Radiohead isn't the only artist taking bold steps to keep pace with the digital age. The firebrand R&B star Prince, for instance, has taken a maverick path by giving copies of one album away as an insert in a major British newspaper or as an extra to anyone who bought a seat on his high-grossing concert tour. Prince took considerable heat from retailers for the newspaper giveaway.

Then there's the business model of New Orleans' top rapper, Lil Wayne, who made dozens of tracks available free via the Internet to cement his stardom. Even old-school icon Bruce Springsteen seems to see the changing times. He gave away downloads of his new song, the aptly titled "Radio Nowhere."

Geoff Mayfield, the director of charts for Billboard, pointed out that Radiohead was not unique because singer-songwriter Jane Siberry offered a similar optional payment download a few years ago.

Radiohead has sold close to 9 million albums in the U.S., and three of its CDs have debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard album charts. The band has in effect made sure that won't happen with "In Rainbow" by taking its unorthodox approach.

The group has a reputation for daring, which has earned it "relationship fans," core loyalists who skew older, travel to see them play live and urgently seek out the latest release. Those fans, Mayfield said, are not the type to take the new music and leave the Radiohead "tip jar" empty.

"If that loyalty dictates consumer behavior," Mayfield said, "a good number are going to pay what's considered a fair price as opposed to 2 cents."

Several observers said all of that made this experiment far safer than it would be for a pop act that needed a major label to secure radio airplay and television exposure or an up-and-coming rock act that could not fall back on the receipts from sold-out arena shows.

"It's a road act with proven appeal, so as long as they have the right people to take care of touring logistics and the business end of getting music out to market, they might be able to make a go on their own," Mayfield said. "It wouldn't work for everyone. You don't want to be an amateur. We're in a brave new world, but you want to make sure dots connect in terms of getting the music out."

That brave new world is a harsh one for the traditional recording industry. The major labels that enjoyed huge profits in the 1980s as fans replaced their music collections with CDs have suffered over the last decade as a new generation instead plucked its hit songs from the Internet, often without paying for them. There have been steady declines in recent years. As of midyear 2007, CD sales were off 19.3% from the same period in 2006. And there's intense competition now from video games and DVDs.

But even as the old empire collapses, new ideas take hold. Though its cerebral soundscapes are avant art rock, Radiohead's earnest and emotionally plaintive ethos puts it in line with acts such as U2. That's why, according to Wired editor Nancy Miller, all eyes have been on the band at the career and marketplace crossroads.

"We've been waiting for just the right band at just the right moment," Miller said. "Right now is it. Radiohead is the perfect band. After finishing its contract, we expected something revolutionary. I thought they would start their own label. Instead, they have done something more interesting: They decided not to decide."

Some pundits weighed in saying that although Radiohead's move might have been a sharp detour for an established band, it was hardly a path newer acts could follow. Curtis, the Pearl Jam manager, said that years on a major label roster established the Radiohead brand and made it possible for it to buck the system.

"It's the newer bands I really feel sorry for," Curtis said.

Pearl Jam and other groups with intense followings, such as the Dave Matthews Band, R.E.M., Metallica and Nine Inch Nails, will probably learn the most from Radiohead's experience, Curtis said. "Everyone will keep an eye on this because this is the most exciting thing we've seen to this point."

On Monday, Radiohead was trying to deal with that excitement. Intense interest and pre-orders overwhelmed the website, according to Martin, the band spokesman. Wired's Miller, for one, predicted the band's gamble would pay off.

"We've seen the crumbling of bigger labels, but there haven't been any big 'Aha!' moments, that risky departure," Miller said. "It's an interesting move, a terrific example of an artist exerting a terrific amount of control. It's definitely going to be successful."

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go to www.radiohead.com and pay as much as you want (£0 is totally acceptable as it seems, but I plan on paying, personally).

now... let's see how this goes, but I find it a fantastic idea, plus I love Radiohead, and I do think that they could be the only band to do that pretty much.

Yet, of course http://www.muse.mu/index.php has all their songs and videos in already. Simmilar move, but without the marketing value

KUDOS to Radiohead for this, and good luck to them

[ManicMatt]

Interesting.

I only have their "OK Computer" album, and Thom's solo album, so I don't know if I'll like it yet. If I did, I'd probably pay about 3-4 pounds... or I'd probably wait for a physical copy because I like having physical discs with the art and such, and maybe have a free download in the meantime teehee!

[Hammerite]

It shows how good the artwork of Stanley Donwood (the band's resident artist) is, by how I am thinking about forking out 40 squid for the full disk box, instead of just going for the download.

[shbaz]

A lot of people are going to buy the box set just because of sheer respect for releasing the album at name-your-own-price.

Another minor band, Harvey Danger, released an album for free and got tons of good press for it.  Otherwise it would have been a barely (if) noticed album.

IMO, it's about time bands started stepping up to the plate and embracing a new marketing strategy, one that ditches the record labels.  They're superfluous now.

[ManicMatt]

Should I mention my album is free too?

Just... you know... seems appropiate. 

[Adamski]

I'm going to buy the boxset, because i'm a Radiohead fanboi.

I wonder if I can resist opening it to sell on eBay in 10 years time?

[ManicMatt]

Buy two then! 

[voh]

Harvey Danger

And the album is AWESOME.

[Evil]

Harvey Danger

And the album is AWESOME.

It doesn't hold a candle to "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?".  That album rocks my face.

We're gonna steal music anyway, why not make it easier?

[RickJ]

This is great news.  They will probably make more from this than they would have if they had gone the conventional route.  I hope their success encourages others to do the same.   I disagree with the notion that newcomers can't play at this.   I think a number of (perhaps many) bands, without recording contracts, make their money by playing live gigs and provide free downloads of their music and sell merchandise from their website.   It's perhaps a cheap way of becoming famous and really that's pretty much all a recording contract could do for someone anyway. 

Traditionally recording companies have provided all the "expensive" stuff such as the expensive recording equipment, manufacturing facilities, retail distribution channels, and the all important marketing functions and have taken the lions share of the resulting revenue in return.  Now we live in a world where recording equipment can cost less than a car and manufacturing and retail distribution are made obsolete by the internet.  It isn't hard to imagine a time in the not too distant future where talented musician's learn to team up with talented marketeers and bypass the traditional recording companies altogether. 

I think this is why the recording industry is going bananas filing lawsuits against everyone they can think of.  They are afraid that their talent will one day wakeup to reality as Radiohead seems to have and walk.  By the way the first RIAA lawsuit to make it to trial started today.  Of all the lawsuits brought all have either been settled or dropped by the RIAA before going to trial.  They were not able to get out of this one.  You can read about it here or here.

[Tuomas]

I've been listening to for example Chroma Key (www.chromakey.com) like this for ages. I appreciate the move on providing the tracks on the website, though letting people download can't be really good for business. I could imagine myself providing all my hypothetical tracks free as scrobbled ona  webpage. Also, people, let's hear your thoughts on the album, I'd like to see if I really should get this new one.

[radiowaves]

And then again, netlabels have existed for a very long time already...

[ManicMatt]

It sounds good. Better than Kid A, but I didnt like what I heard on that. Did I pay for the download? Well... someone sent me the file so.. I'll probably buy a physical copy of it because I'm materialistic or something.

[Hammerite]

i'll download it for like a fiver, but will get the CD.
(i love stan donwood's artwork)

[Radiant]

I think this is an excellent concept.

[Bluesman]

This is fantastic, only some of us third-worlders don't have forty quid to spare! Download it is, then.

(That said, Radiohead's probably my favourite band ever.)

[Hammerite]

I've heard it's their best album since OK Computer, though, IMO, all their albums have been well above average (Hail To The Thief is probably one of their worst though).

[Bluesman]

I have it. Listening to it now. Totally speechless.

[LGM]

I've had it for a few days now.. I can't say I'm fully grasped by it. But I do support the notion that it's about as good as OK computer. Not better, or worse, just different.

My favorite songs so far are "Bodysnatchers," "Weird Fish/Apregi", and "Jigsaw Falling Into Place."

Their tone has changed a bit. Some pretty upbeat songs. But I feel like they blend together too much. And I still don't understand what the fuck Thom Yorke is saying half the time, but I guess it's okay. Harry and I deduced that he mostly just uses his voice as an instrument, which is actually quite cool.

[RickJ]

I cam across this article in wired.com magazine in which David Byrne and Thom York are interviewed about their latest album and how it worked out for them selling on the net for a name your own price.   

It turns out the gambit was a savvy business move. In the first month, about a million fans downloaded In Rainbows. Roughly 40 percent of them paid for it, according to comScore, at an average of $6 each, netting the band nearly $3 million. Plus, since it owns the master recording (a first for the band),

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And for anyone who thought I was perhaps being insincere in voicing my concern over the erosion of "Fair Use" in copyright you can read this Washington Post article where a man is being sued by the RIAA for having copies of his legally purchased CDs on his computer.

... In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer. ...

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Happy New Year