October 8, 2007
The Revolution
 |
Radiohead's announcement that their latest album, In Rainbows, will be available on a pay as you please basis
Once again playing the role of revolutionaries, Radiohead are leading the charge into a world without record labels. Beginning today, the band's new album, In Rainbows, is available for digital download. What's so revolutionary about that? Not much really. Here's the thing, though: the band is leaving it to you, the consumer, to choose how much you'd like to pay to download the entire album. That's right, the band has created a "pay as you please" system that allows the fans to determine - on an individual basis - just how much the new album is worth.
The coup began to take form last Sunday when the band announced, via e-mail (natch), that the new album was in the can and ready for distribution. Having satisfied the terms of their three-record deal with EMI following the release of 2003's Hail to the Thief, Radiohead found themselves in the unique position of being an uncontracted heavy-hitting band with a rabid fanbase. While some bands may cringe at the prospect of even considering releasing a new album with no label support, Radiohead aren't just "some band."
Widely regarded as one of the most creative - and important - bands in recent memory, Radiohead saw their current independence as an opportunity lending itself to a full-blown cultural experiment. Not only did the band's lack of industry tethers allow them the freedom to dictate the album's release schedule, it also allowed them the ability to institute a revolutionary pricing system.
The fact that the album is available for download a mere 10 days after the official announcement is reason enough to question the necessity of the dinosaur record labels in our digital times. The "pay as you please" aspect of this daring enterprise, however, is what has industry leaders and players alike tracking developments on a near minute-by-minute basis.
It's no great secret that the music industry has been heading in the digital download direction for several years now. Anyone even remotely involved in the business should have caught wind of that the first time the word "Napster" was uttered anywhere within earshot.
The Recording Industry Association of America crackdown on illegal downloading may have slowed the digital trend a bit but it was really no more than a bump in the road to the digital dynasty. In reality, all of the noise created by the downloading police merely lead to a loosely regulated form of legal downloading a la iTunes and eMusic. Bringing the labels back into the profit party by allowing them a share of the roughly dollar-per-tune charge that's become industry standard brought a glimmer of relief to industry leaders but in no way has this move generated enough income to bring most labels back above water.
This is precisely why Radiohead's liberal payment plan is basically a death knell for the major labels. Here we have an established band proving they no longer require the support nor infrastructure offered by major labels to bands of such high mainstream status. Bands like Radiohead have traditionally been the cash cows for the majors, essentially generating enough profit to cover the losses incurred by the labels' investments into developing newer and younger acts.
Quite obviously, this situation is a perfect example of the proverbial dual-edged sword. While Radiohead gets to stick it to the clueless fatcats who run the labels, their middle finger to the industry indirectly screws younger upcoming acts out of the funds that were - until recently, at least - essential to putting a new act on the music map.
Naturally, only time will tell exactly what effect Radiohead's anti-power play has on the industry at large. It's unlikely that this single move will spark an instant revolution with bands leaving labels by the scores. The simple fact is that Radiohead is one of just a handful of bands powerful enough to take such a monetary risk. The interesting numbers to watch throughout this entire ordeal, of course, will be the average price affixed to the download of In Rainbows by the consumers. This is, for the most part, the first time that the market will have the opportunity to dictate an album's worth. Will the rates hover around the dollar-per-track industry standard or will the fans lowball it? The bigger question, however, is will the major players in the music and entertainment world sit up and take notice of such breaking developments?
History suggests this move may slip by with little attention from the industry's ivory tower residents. As slow as they've been to respond to Napster, MySpace Music and the like, one has to wonder how much of an impact a single album from single band could really have on an entire business structure.
Regardless, the renegades of Radiohead press on, chipping away at what is already a badly damaged façade. Brick by brick - and track by track - the mavericks of music continue to tear down the wall.
If You Download It:
inrainbows.com/Store/Quickindex.html
The coup began to take form last Sunday when the band announced, via e-mail (natch), that the new album was in the can and ready for distribution. Having satisfied the terms of their three-record deal with EMI following the release of 2003's Hail to the Thief, Radiohead found themselves in the unique position of being an uncontracted heavy-hitting band with a rabid fanbase. While some bands may cringe at the prospect of even considering releasing a new album with no label support, Radiohead aren't just "some band."
Widely regarded as one of the most creative - and important - bands in recent memory, Radiohead saw their current independence as an opportunity lending itself to a full-blown cultural experiment. Not only did the band's lack of industry tethers allow them the freedom to dictate the album's release schedule, it also allowed them the ability to institute a revolutionary pricing system.
The fact that the album is available for download a mere 10 days after the official announcement is reason enough to question the necessity of the dinosaur record labels in our digital times. The "pay as you please" aspect of this daring enterprise, however, is what has industry leaders and players alike tracking developments on a near minute-by-minute basis.
It's no great secret that the music industry has been heading in the digital download direction for several years now. Anyone even remotely involved in the business should have caught wind of that the first time the word "Napster" was uttered anywhere within earshot.
The Recording Industry Association of America crackdown on illegal downloading may have slowed the digital trend a bit but it was really no more than a bump in the road to the digital dynasty. In reality, all of the noise created by the downloading police merely lead to a loosely regulated form of legal downloading a la iTunes and eMusic. Bringing the labels back into the profit party by allowing them a share of the roughly dollar-per-tune charge that's become industry standard brought a glimmer of relief to industry leaders but in no way has this move generated enough income to bring most labels back above water.
This is precisely why Radiohead's liberal payment plan is basically a death knell for the major labels. Here we have an established band proving they no longer require the support nor infrastructure offered by major labels to bands of such high mainstream status. Bands like Radiohead have traditionally been the cash cows for the majors, essentially generating enough profit to cover the losses incurred by the labels' investments into developing newer and younger acts.
Quite obviously, this situation is a perfect example of the proverbial dual-edged sword. While Radiohead gets to stick it to the clueless fatcats who run the labels, their middle finger to the industry indirectly screws younger upcoming acts out of the funds that were - until recently, at least - essential to putting a new act on the music map.
Naturally, only time will tell exactly what effect Radiohead's anti-power play has on the industry at large. It's unlikely that this single move will spark an instant revolution with bands leaving labels by the scores. The simple fact is that Radiohead is one of just a handful of bands powerful enough to take such a monetary risk. The interesting numbers to watch throughout this entire ordeal, of course, will be the average price affixed to the download of In Rainbows by the consumers. This is, for the most part, the first time that the market will have the opportunity to dictate an album's worth. Will the rates hover around the dollar-per-track industry standard or will the fans lowball it? The bigger question, however, is will the major players in the music and entertainment world sit up and take notice of such breaking developments?
History suggests this move may slip by with little attention from the industry's ivory tower residents. As slow as they've been to respond to Napster, MySpace Music and the like, one has to wonder how much of an impact a single album from single band could really have on an entire business structure.
Regardless, the renegades of Radiohead press on, chipping away at what is already a badly damaged façade. Brick by brick - and track by track - the mavericks of music continue to tear down the wall.
If You Download It:
inrainbows.com/Store/Quickindex.html
No comments:
Post a Comment