And the Great Radiohead Experiment Continues...

Oasis and Jamiroquai are contemplating distributing their music directly to fans without a label for an optional price the way Radiohead started doing yesterday, according to the London Telegraph.  Neither band currently owes their label another album, so there's nothing to stop them from trying, should Radiohead's experiment prove to be a resounding success.  (Another British band, the Charlatans -- known stateside as the Charlatans UK -- announced that it will distribute its music for free through website of the XFM radio station, somewhat in the style of Prince.)

I recall when Phish made a splash by copying the Dead's innovative self-sale ticket model, thus cutting out the much loathed TicketMaster in one of the earliest experiments on middleman rot.

Let's try a thought experiment.

Assume Radiohead makes 40 million dollars free and clear distributing their album and another couple million or so touring.  Why was Radiohead allowed to do this?  Because their contract ran out with the recording studios.  This is a sign that technology is evolving faster than the law.  Believe me there are a team of lawyers working around the clock to make sure their precious clients don't fly the coop and this particular loophole will be closing fast.

But that's not good news for the record industry either.  Because now their terms will be even more onerous and their ability to deliver a service less valuable.  Sites like myspace won't create new music, but they will drive it as pop music fans always have, but it will be online... and the sources more fragmented...  for instance, check out emusic for new bands, it's great...

The producers of content tend to be small teams or talented invdividuals.  This content is valuable.  Technology now allows them to sell this content themselves, at little cost and almost no effort. Thus control over content has defragmented to an extent never before seen in any society.  It is the embodiment of capitalization that information compete in the free market place.

Yes, I know that this gig only works because Radiohead is already a huge band, but I think we will see the day soon, when we get our first totally self-owned, self-promoted, internet superstar... Radiohead might have done it had they come along just a few years later, but they never got the chance.

I hear the album's great and I respect the band for stirring up the pot.  They're rich.  Make waves.

Today's Boston Globe reports,

The Internet went a little bit bananas yesterday at 1:30 a.m., as did the blogosphere, when fans began downloading Radiohead's new album, "In Rainbows." The digital-only release was supposed to launch at 7 p.m. (midnight in London), but the activation codes arrived 6 1/2 hours late. Needless to say the delay hardly diminished the cultural significance or revolutionary business potential built into the release of Radiohead's seventh album, which is being offered to fans for whatever price they choose to pay.

Nobody knows how many pre-orders were taken or how much fans opted to pony up, but anecdotal evidence suggests the first number exceeds 4 million and the second hovers around $10, the typical cost of a digital album. Every cent goes to the band, which is no longer affiliated with a record label, and the timing couldn't be better: smack on the heels of the recording industry's victory in its first lawsuit against a music downloader.

Posted by Garth Sullivan.

Comments

[webconnoisseur]

I'm loving the experiment as well, though I wish Radiohead would have hired a web crew that knew what they were doing. Unfortunately, this experiment isn't being given an honest shot, though I think it will still do well.

Here are the problems I see with the site:
http://www.webconnoisseur.com/blog/uncategorized/radiohead-in-rainbow-changing-the-music-industry-but-with-poor-online-execution/