On October 10th, 2007 Radiohead released their newest album In Rainbows in a very unusual way. You could log into their website and either order a big box set or you could name your price for drm-free MP3 files. And yes $0.00 was an acceptable price. This story has been covered over and over in the popular tech media outlets, though I would like to take a quick analysis of this play by Radiohead.
In the comments of Digg and Slashdot you see a lot of people shouting that this is the day the RIAA will finally learn that their doings are evil. I have different feelings. I do think it is a good thing, but it is a move that only a major band could make a get noticed.
A while ago I remember listening to TWiT (This Week in Tech) and Leo mentioning that a band by the name of Steadman (www.steadmanband.com) got frustrated with being dropped form labels and was going to give MP3s of all of its music away for free. You can still go to their website and get those files. Outside of TWiT I don't think anybody heard this and the only reason I remember this is that one of my friends worked for the music industry at that time and hooked me up with their album.
The point is that this band, Steadman, got no press when they did this out side of the niche podcast TWiT. When a band like Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, or Barenaked Ladies makes the decision to release free music, that news will make some bigger waves throughout media.
All of that negativity aside, I do think that when big-ticket bands make industry-changing moves like this it is a good thing. It is only a start. We need more bands to get on this trend first though. Bands that sell out clubs and bands that sell out arenas.
The RIAA most likely isn't happy with Radiohead for giving away their music. It reflect poorly on their current practices and *hopefully* will make people start to question that $15.00 price tag for an album.
In the comments of Digg and Slashdot you see a lot of people shouting that this is the day the RIAA will finally learn that their doings are evil. I have different feelings. I do think it is a good thing, but it is a move that only a major band could make a get noticed.
A while ago I remember listening to TWiT (This Week in Tech) and Leo mentioning that a band by the name of Steadman (www.steadmanband.com) got frustrated with being dropped form labels and was going to give MP3s of all of its music away for free. You can still go to their website and get those files. Outside of TWiT I don't think anybody heard this and the only reason I remember this is that one of my friends worked for the music industry at that time and hooked me up with their album.
The point is that this band, Steadman, got no press when they did this out side of the niche podcast TWiT. When a band like Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, or Barenaked Ladies makes the decision to release free music, that news will make some bigger waves throughout media.
All of that negativity aside, I do think that when big-ticket bands make industry-changing moves like this it is a good thing. It is only a start. We need more bands to get on this trend first though. Bands that sell out clubs and bands that sell out arenas.
The RIAA most likely isn't happy with Radiohead for giving away their music. It reflect poorly on their current practices and *hopefully* will make people start to question that $15.00 price tag for an album.