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On Wednesday, Oct. 10, a great experiment in the music industry came to fruition. Radiohead, the platinum-selling art-rock band from the UK, released its seventh studio album, “In Rainbows.” According to a source close to the band, the album sold an impressive 1.2 million copies within 24 hours of its release – more than the combined sales of Radiohead’s past three records. The band hasn’t released any sales figures, but polls have indicated sales of over $10 million.
And Radiohead did it without a price tag.
Actually, they did it without a record label, too, which is how they were able to pull off such a stunt. The band had fulfilled their contract with EMI, and they were free to do whatever they wanted with “In Rainbows.” So they put it on their Web site, where one could purchase either a box set or a digital copy to download.
Fans could set their own price for the digital download. They could even walk away with a legit copy of the album for nothing.
According to an Internet poll of 3,000 people, the average price paid for “In Rainbows” was $8. If the band had released the album through a record label, they might have seen $2 per album, tops, even though the average price a consumer would pay per album would have been higher. As it stands, the money Radiohead makes from its online sales is almost completely profit, after production and distribution costs.
Even though the band says the move wasn’t intended to subvert the recording industry, it has. Radiohead’s success with “In Rainbows” is proof that the recording industry has ultimately failed to adapt to today’s consumer climate. While the RIAA is busy “making examples” out of single moms, recording artists are making a killing releasing albums on their own.
It’s also one more example of the “gift economy” – a system where goods are exchanged without explicit expectation – gaining a hold in the mainstream. Other examples of gift economies include open-source software communities, such as Linux and the OpenOffice project.
Others have compared Radiohead’s “pay-what-you-like” policy to tipping. Consumers are willing to pay the band for music they really like, just as they are willing to show their appreciation for a great haircut or a well-made latte. Sure a lot of people took “In Rainbows” without paying, but there have been many reports of people who were willing to pay upwards of $160 just to show the band that they appreciated their music and their effort. In the end, they averaged a lot more than they would have made distributing through a major label.
The recording industry is in total upheaval now, and it’s exciting.
For years, music fans have been treated like potential criminals, between digital rights management software and exorbitant album prices. Now Radiohead has proved that we can cut out the middleman and fans will still shell out the money to show them how much they love them.
Pattie Barry is a senior French and new media major.
