Radiohead came to test the value of tipping after ending their relationship with EMI records in 2004 with the completion of their warmly received album “Hail to the thief”.
Out of contract and exploring their options, Johnny Greenwood claimed Radiohead proceeded with the experiment “partly just to get it out quickly, so everyone would hear it at the same time, and partly because it was an experiment that felt worth trying, really.”*
Was it a risk they took in offering the album up to fans asking them to “Pay what you want”? Were they creating an album that fans would run away with, leaving Radiohead without reward? Well, no.
You see, this has been done before, but never on such a scale. Issa (formerly known as Jane Siberry) has not only been doing this since 1995, but has documented the results of the exercise on her website. Her results show that of the people who came to her site to download, ninety-four percent paid at or above the suggested price.
The “Experiment,” as Johnny Greenwood called it, is based on the popular concept of tipping; paying a gratuity to a person who provides a service or goods. Many Charities also rely on “The Honesty system” to sell goods-people take the product and pay an agreed sum without supervision.
So before “In rainbows” there was a world of evidence to suggest that people were happy to pay for something when they didn’t have to.
The motivation was there, with Yorke wanting to let a stink bomb off in the industry; the means was there and known to be successful- Siberry’s experience was evidence of that; the capacity- an album – was also there.
As an album “In Rainbows” has received glowing press reviews and has been well received by fans. I found it to be more coherent than Kid A, and more human than OK Computer while still retaining both the diversity and disturbing undertones of these albums. It is arguably their best release to date.
On the week of release the ten tracks contained in the download took the first ten places on Last.Fm’s charts;** dismissing claims by some people that there would be no way to measure the success of the album without the conventional charting methods offered by a label.
The release is not 100% profit for the band; Nigel Godrich and Mark Stent, the producers were paid for the recording; as was Stanley Donwood, who created the artwork. The Internet Exchange Point, PacketExchange, allowed Radiohead to execute the transfer of the 48 Mb zip file flawlessly.
The approach taken by Radiohead is not 100% profit- but it is a much better deal than that offered by any label. They managed a major release without the assistance of a record label, which had little to offer an established act such as Radiohead.
Tomorrow we move on to discuss just why Radiohead doesn’t need a label, but why the record labels remain relevant to the music industry as a whole.
**http://www.last.fm/music/+charts/?charttype=weekly&subtype=track&range=1191758400-1192363200
1 Comment
November 16, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Wow, hear is the parody of 15 steps, would radiohead like ithttp://www.realcrash.com/radiohead-15-steps-against-the-collapse/ ?