Today, the popular band Radiohead announced their new album, In Rainbows, would be released using a new promotional and marketing strategy that challenges record labels. Radiohead is perhaps the most popular band in the world that does not have a record label. In 2003, the band released Hail to the Thief through EMI/Capitol before their contract with the record label expired. They haven't released another album since, nor have they signed with another record label.
In the current music market where it seems as though record labels have all the power, Radiohead has turned their back on the business machine of the music industry prefering to handle things themselves. In Rainbows will only be available online through Radiohead's website. Not only does this allow Radiohead to keep more profits instead of paying a record label and retailers, but it also allows them to keep control. Record labels are struggling against piracy and illegal music downloads, so if the Radiohead formula works, it could cause concern for those companies in the long term.
Radiohead's formula is simple. The entire album is available via download, and fans can choose the amount they want to pay for it. In fact, a customer could pay as little as the required transaction fee from the credit card company and nothing else. That's less than $1. Alternatively, customers can choose to buy the album as part of a deluxe box set for about $80 that includes the album on CD as well as two 12" vinyl records and a bunch of extras fans will love such as extra songs, photographs and more.
Radiohead isn't the first band to try the free download marketing strategy. Earlier this year, Prince used a similar strategy in the U.K. with his album 3123. He then went on to announce and sell out 21 tour dates in London. It remains to be seen whether Radiohead will reap the rewards later from practically free downloads now as Prince did.
What do you think of Radiohead's strategy? While I think Radiohead will do just fine following this type of strategy as an established, popular brand (fans have been waiting four years for a new album), I don't think this would work for a new band. Record companies have the broad reach and influence necessary to get new band's CDs into stores and to promote bands to build awareness and interest in new artists. Certainly, some bands have success building a strong local audience that can expand virally through word-of-mouth marketing, but those success stories remain in the minority. What do you think? Should record companies be concerned? Should they be rethinking their own marketing strategies?
Although I am (sort of) a Radiohead fan, I seriously consider sitting this (long-awaited) release out a bit.
-- Why? Bands starting off in the field of releasing their music, have not got the budget, nor the know-how of producing an album like a record company has. Going towards a system without record companies will let lots of new talent go to waste.
Now, ofcourse, this does not apply to Radiohead. They do have all the means to squeeze out an okay album. The problem is, though, that this may be a dangerous precedent in music marketing. If this works, who's to say that record companies might cave in altogether, and focus on much more profitable areas such as music licensing, online music stores or other media altogether, rather than looking for new talent?
Plus: the actual Radiohead album has become an elite product for die-hard fans and professionals. Ofcourse: the band, future-minded as it may be, still wants a cool old-school vinyl/cd/booklet on their shelves. And they are right: there is much more to an album than a bunch of files on whatever machine you're playing it on. An album becomes real when it is tangible, when it has a sleeve, sleeve notes, pictures... It thus becomes a work of art in your cosy living room, rather than a digital rendering on an ugly pc-screen in your damp back room.
Not to mention the importance of history: If they'd had iTunes instead of vinyl in the seventies, would I still have discovered that obscure 1974 Malian Kora-recording like the one I did last week on vinyl in some shabby record store?
And for so many other reasons... this is not a good idea.
Posted by: JpDHCh | October 3, 2007 4:40 PM | Permalink to Comment