10 Responses So Far

• 1

  mike

  Nov 25, 2007 at 7:15 pm

  This really does highlight why your site can be very helpful. Nice start!

• 2

  Nick

  Mar 10, 2008 at 10:35 am

  I’ve been filtering through other news blogs about the current status of Radiohead’s In Rainbows sales numbers. According to their management company (Courtyard Management), the sales numbers for In Rainbows number over 1million. Currently the band has begun selling In Rainbows in CD format through retailer chains. According to Courtyard Managment, the decision to allow internet downloads was a “promotional tactic to boost sales of compact discs”.Based upon the buzz generated by Radiohead’s decision, and the current radio-play and interest of the new album, my guess is that it was a good decision.

• 3

  matt

  Mar 12, 2008 at 7:49 am

  I see two possible interpretations here:

  1. Established bands are using the same tactic as independent bands now - initially giving away music for free (or, in this case, free or what someone would like to pay) for promotion and marketing purposes to then better monetize things later.

  Or

  2. Maybe the “pay what you would like” plan didn’t work out the way Radiohead had hoped financially, and now they went to Plan B and this “marketing” statement is their justification for shifting strategy.

  Either way there is no doubt that Radiohead got extremely good promotion from this idea.

• 4

  aaron

  Mar 12, 2008 at 9:53 am

  It could also be a mix of both where the downloads slowed down to the point where it was time to get the CDs out to the non-tech oriented fans, and obviously the publicity of the downloadable version will bring attention to their CD. For me, though, it would be annoying to know I could have had the music for cheaper before but now have to pay more for it.

• 5

  Dan

  Mar 14, 2008 at 11:52 am

  Nine inch Nails who dropped their record label late last year, generated $1.6 Million in sales revenue in the First Week of release of their new album.

  What makes this particularly interesting is that the album is available for free and many torrent sites, and that the first 9 tracks of the 36 track album were available for free at the bands website. Perhaps there is a new model developing here…

• 6

  Tim

  Mar 15, 2008 at 11:32 pm

  Very interesting, both the number of songs NIN gave away and the ace that they made a 36 song album. Are they selling it track by track or do they sell the whole album at the same price as a 10-14 song album?

• 7

  matt

  Mar 16, 2008 at 4:31 pm

  They are selling the entire four part album for a very reasonable $5. The 9 songs they are giving away for free constitute Part I of Ghosts I-IV, so another way of looking at it is they are selling 27 songs for $5, with 9 additional freebies.

• 8

  Tim

  Mar 17, 2008 at 1:45 pm

  Wow, that’s cheap, especially for a band like NIN that doesn’t tour very much.

  Is this the new trend or should everyone stick with the Itunes 99 cents per song model, it’ll be interesting to see what emerges over the next few years.

• 9

  matt

  Mar 17, 2008 at 2:41 pm

  It will be interesting to see what model becomes the norm for established bands like NIN. 99 cents per song has always seemed like a high number to me and others, for any band.

  In the short term I imagine we will continue to see differing versions of these free song offerings that help in promotion, especially so long as the established bands get such great publicity out of it! And who knows, maybe all established bands will now have to offer a few new songs for free because if others are doing it the market will come to expect it.

  NIN also has made good money during this new album offering by charging a high amount for deluxe edition of their CDs and signed CDs. Their $75 deluxe edition includes Ghosts I-IV in a hardcover fabric slipcase containing 2 audio CDs, 1 data DVD with all 36 tracks in multi-track format, and a Blu-ray disc with Ghosts I-IV in high-definition 96/24 stereo and accompanying slideshow to the music.

  http://ghosts.nin.com/main/order_options

  For smaller bands, the expectation will likely continue for them to give away their music, but they may need to integrate some of these promotional ideas too if they want fans to ever pay for their music.

  By the way, an interesting point that was discussed at the SXSW Music Conference in Austin this past week was that if the music industry just charged 5 cents per non-monetized downloaded song from right when downloads starting becoming popular, the industry would have made more per year on selling music than they ever did through CD sales. The industry’s delay in adapting, although understandable, is the partial cause of all of this confusion as this delay allowed this free music “culture” to become the norm.

• 10

  eric hebert

  Mar 21, 2008 at 8:10 am

  This isn’t rocket science folks. Here’s how it will go down:

  Artists will starve during their early years. They’ll have to give away music, yes. Hopefully they’ll tour to bring home the bacon, one gig at a time.

  Over the years, they’ll hopefully build a strong fanbase, where they can start making money from other things in addition to touring - merch, fan club menberships, exclusive audio, art, and anything else they can get creative with.

  Notice I said “in addition” to touring. That’s because that’s what they’ll have to do to make a living - tour.

  Being a musician is no different than being a plumber - you gotta get up everyday and do what you’re good at.

  The days of getting a fat advance from a label and then blowing it on drugs and hookers are over kids.

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