As reported everywhere, including the NYT (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/arts/music/02radi.html) yesterday, the UK band Radiohead has "leaked" the full version of their long-awaiting new record onto their own website. Unlike other bands who have done this and offer high-quality streaming audio only, these guys have offered their entire album for mp3 download for listening on any platform you choose. The best part is the price. You tell them what you want to pay, starting as little as one penny (UK).
So the band that already enjoys an incredibly wide, loyal audience, famously among these, classical musicians who adapt their music to orchestrations, hipsters (real and aspiring), and just about everybody currently in graduate school, now is being heralded as creating a revolution in the music business. In part, this is because of the stunningly clever business strategy displayed. These guys will make a fortune, because their grateful fan base will shell out likely 3-5 pounds per downloaded record, all of which is revenue coming directly to the band. The website is theirs, they hired nobody to market their record, or distribute it. What's more - they will release the "hard copy" of their record next year, and most of their fans, including myself, will pay full price for this as well, because we enjoy owning the actual CD and playing it on our stereos at home, rather than just listening to it on the way to work, etc.
I think the "revolutionary" characterization, however, is overstated. Very few acts in popular music could pull this off. Most do not have the loyal fan base willing to pay and pay again for more than a single track off a record. Most do not have the intelligence and expertise to set up a website, let alone make music, without scores of professionals to do the actual work. Most are not indepednent of the record company they absoultely depend on to "brand" them as "recording artists."
Nonetheless, for the few popular musicians with a similar fan base and technical/business savvy, this could be a worthwhile strategy and yet another nail in the coffin of the major record labels.
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