http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/10/01/bcnradio101.xml So what do we make of this? I tend to think that Radiohead, in typical dopey celebrity fashion, will end up doing more harm to the industry with this stunt that good...
Does it matter that the industry gets harmed if the people get rewarded? (unless the new album is total crap)
I think it's great but I'm slightly puzzled that there are only two options - a £40.00 box set or a virtually-free download. It seems like some bizarre experiment. Most unusual.
No but you do get 2 CDs, 2 vinyl albums, a free download of the album, a booklet and some other stuff.
I still say it's a bad idea... http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071011121649.tivlafw4&show_article=1
I'd be interested to know how much it costs to actually produce an album and get it in shops. If by dangerous he means that artists will less likely be able to produce and distribute their stuff, I remain to be convinced.
I think he's cognizant that this sort of approach to releasing music only works for very powerful bands who already have very healthy bank accounts. Other bands, still struggling to make ends meet or get their break, could never afford to give their product away, as album sales are one of the ways they pay for tours and fund their existence. Distribution, which you mentioned, is easier nowadays because of the Internet, but production is definitely not. Production costs money, and giving an album away on the web isn't going to fund all the engineers and sessions musicians it took to grind Sgt. Pepper into a masterpiece. Again, I think this is a dangerous door Radiohead has opened.
Yet, paradoxically, many bands starting out do exactly that: make their music available on the internet. It's a way to get noticed, without having to get the support of the corporate marketing department. My band, and all of the bands I know that do original music rather than covers, typically have four complete songs posted on a MySpace or YouTube page, or on their own website. Production is getting easier with today's software. A friend of mine produced a really good quality CD of his music, I mean literally the production values are indistinguishable from those of established artists. I didn't know for several months that he recorded it in a friend's home basement studio, with PC software. At one point they had to shut down for an hour because the friend's girlfriend needed the quiet to participate in a conference call for her own job. I have posted this opinion on the Economics board and elsewhere: I suspect that the institution of the corporation may wane in the post-industrial era. There are so many kinds of projects which no longer require massive concentrations of capital in order to be done well.
Very interesting article on Radiohead's 'honesty box' here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7041447.stm
i think they are genius. They finally get the money they deserve. Through record labels, bands nearly get .50 cents per cd.
