Free Radiohead Album (merged)

TonyIce

Oh, and I will be paying for it - something about the fact that they've legally given me the option and acted like decent chaps about the whole thing makes me want to cough up - haven't decided how much yet.

Maybe that's the key - perhaps this feels a little more authentic than buying a CD you know will make a lot of people apart from the artist rich..... Maybe that's a core reason why respect and value for what's perceived as important intellectual-property appears to be so low, and perhaps it's a subconscious thing among the music buying / downloading public, so the system could be unwillingly destroying itself from the inside....... too much to think about. My brain hurts. Go to bed.

pinkkaz

KungFuJoe wrote: »

the reason they're able to do it is that they fulfilled their obligations under their last record contract and chose not to take on a new one. This leaves them free to do what they like. So rather than do the traditional thing, which would see them receive less than two quid for every CD sold (the bulk goes to retailers and the record company), they figured they might as well cut out the middle man and go direct. The honesty scheme doesn't hurt in terms of publicity, although Radiohead have never been the types to seek it.

This is obviously somebody who knows very little about the industry. What Radiohead have done here is very clever. It is a new idea which has generated a huge amount of publicity. And they have bypassed the record companies, which means that every penny (minus manufacturing/artwork/recording/ costs goes to them). What people don't seem to think about though, is that Radiohead are as popular as they are because of years and years of music industry investment which they are now capitalising on. When a first record from a group like Radiohead goes out, the label will spend a huge huge huge amount of money on advertising. In fact, practically every new release is a huge risk and many lose money and are projected to lose money in the hope that they will recoup the money when the group becomes popular.

Anyway I've gone off on one, but music industry "fat cats" are a thing of the (distant) past. And I wonder how many of you who feel guilty for downloading the new album for free regularly download illegally from filesharing websites?

As KungFuJoe mentioned, I don't think any other artists will be doing this offer. It's a publicity stunt, and seems to have worked as apparently most people are ordering the £40 set. Radiohead are raking it in. But hey, they are fab - they deserve it!

pinkkaz

TonyIce wrote: »

Maybe that's the key - perhaps this feels a little more authentic than buying a CD you know will make a lot of people apart from the artist rich..... Maybe that's a core reason why respect and value for what's perceived as important intellectual-property appears to be so low, and perhaps it's a subconscious thing among the music buying / downloading public, so the system could be unwillingly destroying itself from the inside....... too much to think about. My brain hurts. Go to bed.

That's the annoying thing - that the public do actually seem to think this (can you tell I work in the music industry?!) Most people in the music industry (with the exception of lawyers!) get paid a pittance, but do it for the love of it. From sales of a record, the first cut goes to the record shop (who will probably be given a discount to encourage volume of sales), then after that about 10% goes to the writer of the music, and about 15% to the band. Up to 20% will be spent on the manufacturer (depending on how nice the packaging is), then about £2 per CD is spent on marketing. Add in about £20k for recording costs, artwork costs, radio plugging and there isn't much left to spend on industry employees and investment in up and coming artists. Really p*sses me off when people flout copyright and download for free. Grrr.

DNC70

Anyone remember the on-line DVD retailer that tried a similar experiment? They displayed the cost price to them for their DVDs, set that as the minimum price and then allowed you to add a "tip" as to what you thought the DVD was worth, how much you valued their service etc.

They didn't last long.

I'll go £7.99 for the Radiohead download.

indelacio

DNC70 wrote: »

I'll go £7.99 for the Radiohead download.

you can buy a cd for that price... my computer !!!!!!s up a lot of the time and I lose stuff on it, so half or less the price of a cd for downloads is my personal opinion.

WaveyDavey001

Interesting read of this post and I applaud some of the posters who get what this potentially means.

I think Martin should do a Money Moral Dilemma on would you pay a fair days wage for a fair days work (even if you consider the employee rich). Also if you have made good money in the past, should you give your services away for free in the future?

I ask this because I think Radiohead are offering you, the consumer, an honesty box. They are also challenging the way that the Music Business works and exploring a future model as independents, that if people respect, may offer a better (and cheaper) way to engage with the music industry.

The last Radiohead album came out in 2003 so this album has been in production (on and off) for 4 years. One track (Nude) has been 10 years in the making. Radiohead have toured with no sponsor or advertising and unlike Prince (who was paid lots by a National Newspaper and got lots of free advertising as a result) this is done off of their own back.

So looking at the poll results today over 36% are paying 0 – 49P (guess where on that scale) and as over 17% aren’t buying that means that of those who are getting the album 45% (approx) are paying nothing or next to nothing for it.

Only 8 independent albums (out of 24) qualified for gold status in 2006 (I don’t know if more made platinum). A gold record in the UK needs to sell 100,000 records. So looking at 5 band members, plus producers, engineers and management (not to mention accountants for the tax, website designers etc)that assumes that the max takings that might be made from 45,000 of those 100K is £22,050 probably not enough to pay the engineer after tax and overheads are taken into account.

Yes I know that is only a small proportion of the sales that a band like radiohead might be able to make. But what about the up and comings? No record company will invest these days when everyone wants something for nothing.

I love freebies, but each one of them comes with advertising, branding, samples, data collection or something. Martins free site is brilliant, but it carries with it credibility which gets him paid (well) work on TV in magazines and newspapers. A great business model. I’m sure someone can point out the benefit and massive profit that Radiohead will make, but remember everyone else. If we aren’t prepared to pay, all we will end up with is Xfactor.

If you can’t afford it, then go get the Download for free. If you aren’t interested don’t get it. But if you do like the band, have a little bit of cash, then pay a decent rate.

So Martin, don’t just tell someone how to get something for nothing without exploring the ethics behind it on your email (granted the post titled “free radiohead album” makes a little effort). Fairness works both ways.

Let the flaming begin.

P.S. Some excellent free music at http://www.gohomeproductions.co.uk/ ;-)

niknakb

Hi

Just a question. Did any of you have to put in your credit card details because I had to register 1st and when I had it said I would be charged to my credit card but I never entered any details. I'm confused

genius149

Interesting thread. Radiohead aren't the first to do this by any means. I am a big fan of a band called Porcupine Tree and they have a touring guitarist called John Wesley who announced a thing called "Share the Wes" on his website where you could download all of his solo material from his website and if you liked it you could make an optional Paypal donation and as he says, "Pay nothing, pay a little, pay a lot, but whatever you do, download the music, listen and "Share it"".:beer:

If your interested you can find him on Myspace or find his website by googling it.

Ferris

sassi wrote: »

if you put 0.00 no card details are required, so no charge made....

that was actually the first thing i tried, but it still required me to complete a credit card form, and there's no way i'm doing that for 0.00...

can anyone else confirm that a "bid" of £0.00 requires no credit card details?

Ferris

Ferris wrote: »

that was actually the first thing i tried, but it still required me to complete a credit card form, and there's no way i'm doing that for 0.00...

can anyone else confirm that a "bid" of £0.00 requires no credit card details?

incidentally, i'm not committing myself to the fact that i'm paying £0.00 for it, i just think it's a bit off that when i tried to order for £0.00 (out of sheer shock and in order to see whether it was really a case of "it's up to you") they still sought my credit card details.

my first thought was that if the only way to legally get the album on release day is to pay by credit card, it automatically excludes everyone under 18 from the cherished act of getting their own copy (obviously they can ask parents or whatever, but part of the fun of growing up is spending your own cash on your own copy etc etc). so perhaps it is a good thing if it really is now potentially free with no credit card details.

i'll get my halo.