JoshFetzer
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I heard that Radio Head is offering their next c.d. free to the public. They are going for the whole, “Pay what you want” technique. Hopefull Brad started a Trend here. Oh hey, that’s a name of one of his songs. How ironic.
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buildingonfire
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From Radiohead’s publicist:
“Although the idea is that you can decide what you want to pay, most people are deciding on a normal retail price with very few trying to buy it for a penny.”
I’ve been a fan of this pricing system (not sure what to call it, pay-what-you-want sounds a little flaccid though completely honest) ever since I found out about Magnatune and Brad Sucks, and I’m really glad to see it discussed so widely thanks to a great big giant band like Radiohead getting behind it.
Another snippet I like from Wired:
“Surely, there’s a lesson to other bands and labels floating around here somewhere: increase anticipation for your album, treat fans with respect, give them options and offer something truly attractive to the hardcore following, and the world will beat a path to your server.”
I’ll take that over RIAA lawsuits any day. Now my only question is “how’s the album”…
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nedrubwerd
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The BBC reported that an onslaught of traffic brought Radiohead’s site to its knees on Monday. Maybe more artists will adopt this model and bring about publicity. Everyone likes a little publicity…
…unless it’s bad publicity, but that’s another story. Also might not be a bad idea for Radiohead to invest in a sizable server farm.
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Brad
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It’s cool to see, though as I mentioned Radiohead’s in a pretty unique situation. And not to mention used all that big record company money to get to the position they’re in today. It’s all good business, but how do you get to a Radiohead level without all the evil machinery?
I’ve been wondering about the variable pricing stuff. I like how nice it sounds and customer friendly it is. Though giving it away and saying “hey if you want to pay for it, it’s X number of dollars” seems OK too. I added up all my sales on Magnatune and averaged them out. They allow between $5 and $18 and the default price is $8. My average is $8.30 or so. So it didn’t seem like it made much of a difference overall to the bottom line for me. Does it make consumers happier? I do not know. It’s definitely still an exciting gimmick.
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DaveII
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I paid $12 on Magnatune for I Don’t Know What I’m Doing. It probably would have cost me $15 to $18 retail. I figured $12 was about retail minus s/h. I didn’t yet know about being able to get it for free, but I would have paid for it anyway because I wanted to encourage more of this great stuff I found. I’ll buy Brad’s next album too. How much will I pay? It depends on how good it is.
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Tony
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I’ll probably take it for free again and feel a bit guilty, but then I’ll just say to myself that I already support Brad by telling everybody about his music and wearing the shirt for the people I don’t talk to.
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Brad
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Yeah I’m really not sure what the value is of music these days. I figure as long as I give it away for free as well as charge for it then I still get exposure if people download/share it but they’re aware I’d happily take their money.
I do kind of like the psychology of asking the visitor to select a price even if they select zero. It kind of points out “hey totally willing to take your money over here” which can never be stated enough for indie musicians.
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SolidSquirrel
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I know this is weird, but I hate paying for music on an album-to-album basis. I like subscription-based services because I have an easier time buying music without worrying if it is worth my money.
I paid £2 for In Rainbows, which ended up being exactly $5 after the processing fee and USD conversion (it was definitely worth it, I don’t think I’ve ever been this hyped for an album release).
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Brad
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SolidSquirrel: interesting. I think I’d like the subscription method better as well as it’d let me experiment more. Not sure how the money works for the artists though.
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noellemxdwn
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Hey guys.
This is Noelle, the publicist for mxdwn.com, an online music magazine. We just posted a review of Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” on our site and were wondering if anyone knows of or had Radiohead’s publicist’s contact information. We’d love to notify them of the review.
Thanks for your help!
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JoshFetzer
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is it just me, or is anyone else confused on why noellemxdwn posted that comment. Not trying to sound like a jackass, but….what?
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bjrn
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Perhaps just a way of writing “Hello, I have a website. Will you visit it, please?” Also, they have no Noelle on their staff.
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