AfterDawn: News

Radiohead denies iTunes of their new album

British rock band Radiohead has joined the ranks of such bands as The Beatles in denying Apple's iTunes the sell of their new album entitled "In Rainbows". Instead, the band has decided to let the fans decide how much they'd like to pay for their own music.

With a message reading "Its up to you", Radiohead will put their new album, which is set to release 10 October on direct digital download for a price that you are able to name yourself. They have, however, begun accepting pre-orders on their website. As the site will show, you are able to place a bid as low as one pence (2 cents) with a 45 pence charge for using a credit or debit card.



The band does not fear that it will hurt their individual fortunes, but rather poses this as a way to possibly abide illegal downloading by letting the fan pay what they feel is acceptable with the album based on what they feel it deserves.

On the flipside, the band is also accepting orders for a physical copy of the disk at a set price of £40 which includes many extras and fanfare to keep the people happy who would like to truly support the band.

Source:
PC World

Written by: Dave Horvath @ 1 Oct 2007 10:32

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• 18 comments

• nobrainer

  good, more bands fighting the media companies and going it alone showing there is better profit from even giving away your album for $1 than letting the vulchers that are the media companies steal their fat pay checks.
  
  They also said no to EMI after Hail to the Thief

  1.10.2007 10:45 #1

• chaos_zzz

  nice

  1.10.2007 10:46 #2

• ugc

  I don't even know who the British rock band Radiohead is, but I am going to buy the CD in support of their decision. I hope they have success, then maybe more bands will follow this business model.

  1.10.2007 11:44 #3

• chaos_zzz

  radiohead is already successful what r u talking about :S

  1.10.2007 11:46 #4

• xugiua

  I think that's sweet what they're doing, rock on radio head.

  1.10.2007 12:19 #5

• maryjayne

  As long as the sales go directly to the band and the RIAA does not get their hand into their wallet, then this is defidently a great idea for artists.
  
  I dont mind paying $1 per song provided that I know that the RIAA wont get $0.90 of the payment.

  1.10.2007 12:38 #6

• ugc

  Originally posted by chaos_zzz: radiohead is already successful what r u talking about :Snot successful as a band. success in the new "music sales" approach. In other words, I hope they sell a lot of CD's this way
  

  "It ain't easy being me"

  1.10.2007 13:30 #7

• emugamer

  I have been a huge Radiohead fan for about 12 years now. This is the best news I've heard in a very long time. It's what I've been wanting for a long time, and they are the perfect band to do it. I'm paying for my copy, just as I was going to at Best Buy during my lunch break. Being a diehard fan of their music, I am definitely buying the "hard copy." I hope they set the stage for more independance. More established artists need to follow. Here is the link to the Time article, if anyone is interested:
  
  http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1666973,00.html
  
  HAIL TO THE RADIOHEAD!!! Pave the way to the demise of the dying music industry business model!

  1.10.2007 13:42 #8

• nintenut

  I've never heard any of their songs, but I may pick up this album just for this move. :)
  And their had better be a lot of fanfare if the physical CD is 40 GBP! (That's 80 USD, for those who don't know the conversion rate).

  1.10.2007 13:51 #9

• DMW

  Not really a big fan of Radiohead and after listening to most of their albums through my mate who lives Radiohead, there's probably more songs I dis-like of theirs than like.
  
  But, I think this move is awesome!! They have complete control over their music now they don't have a label and that's how it should be. They are lucky enough to have a HUGE fan base and this is how they pay them back. Nice :)
  
  According to Yahoo news for £40 you get
  Quote:The band will also offer a special edition boxed set for 40 pounds which will be available later and will include two vinyl albums, a CD version of the new album and a second CD with additional new songs, artwork and photographs of the band.
  http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20071001/t...-620d7d1_2.html
  
  I am not a fan but will certainly tell everyone I know to go and support the guys. Keep it up Radiohead!!!

  1.10.2007 14:07 #10

• limelight

  Gee, what great advertising. Thats how you sell an album; cause a stir with mega giant itunes, and get everyone to notice you and "support" you at the same time.
  
  What a stunt.

  1.10.2007 18:09 #11

• lamain

  though I have never heard of them before I will also be buying a CD for support. I hope more artists do this.

  1.10.2007 18:27 #12

• emugamer

  Originally posted by limelight: Gee, what great advertising. Thats how you sell an album; cause a stir with mega giant itunes, and get everyone to notice you and "support" you at the same time.
  
  What a stunt.Whatever dude. This is for the fans. A true fan of their music will buy their album. This "stunt" is not meant to sell albums. I was getting ready to buy the album regardless of this announcement. Someone who doesn't know who they are will not buy it and will download it for free. And that's all good. That's how it should be. This is not a media stunt or gimmick. This is the way of the future. People should be able to sample what they want however they can, without being made to feel like a thief. The success of a band will depend on how large their true fan base is. That will show what an artist is really worth and how many fans actually want to support them. They are stepping out of the box. Your comment seems to be lined with sarcasm. Which is fine, because everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But when you think about it, anything an artist does that is not a part of the "norm" in the industry will cause a stir. So do you propose that todays artists approach it differently? This band is making an obvious effort to cause a stir. Is it to their advantage? Yes, maybe there is an ulterior motive. But it serves the fans well. A fan like myself feels a sense of pride in a band that I've followed for this long and seeing them finally be able to break the shackles of the music industry. And be one of the first ones to do it.
  
  Here's a clip from the Time article that I enjoyed the most:
  
  Quote:"That's the interesting part of all this," says a producer who works primarily with American rap artists. "Radiohead is the best band in the world; if you can pay whatever you want for music by the best band in the world, why would you pay $13 dollars or $.99 cents for music by somebody less talented? Once you open that door and start giving music away legally, I'm not sure there's any going back."Now while I don't agree with him that Radiohead is the best band in the world, I think he is right on in terms of the effect this will have in the industry.

  1.10.2007 19:40 #13

• duckNrun

  just my quick two cents...
  
  First-- I didn't take limelight's response as sarcasm in any
  Second--of course this is for the fans. Somebody who is not a fan won't download the music, just for the sake of downloading, even if it IS free.
  Third-- however, someone who is not a fan MAY download the music to check the group out and thereby become a fan
  
  I believe that with this distribution model even if a band was only to make $1-$2 per cd they would still come out ahead as compared to their cut off of a contract with a studio. This is based on artists only getting the same percentage rate off of downloaded songs as they do from physical sales. So even at a dime a song downloaded they are making more than with a contract. Add in the bonus physical CD package they are offering and now were talking some cash.
  
  This type of model is what I have envisioned for quite some time now. Let the freeloaders get their freebie (they weren't buying anyways... right?) and leave it up to the conscientous consumer and fan to pay a fair and reasonable price for the music they enjoy.
  
  Statistically this should result in them making more money in the long run as well as expanding their fan base. I do believe that we will see other artists instead of re-signing with their labels deciding to do the same thing, or something similiar, in the near future.
  
  The labels may still get the unknowns to make into stars but upon completion of their contracts their stars will be able to kiss them goodbye. Of course this may cause labels to over contract their new talent such as they did with the Dixie Chicks. A 10 album contract with minimal rate increases depending upon success and 'profits' with an option to drop the band before the xth cd if the label deems the group not successful.

  1.10.2007 22:43 #14

• borhan9

  Soon enough many bands will make the transitions.

  2.10.2007 19:12 #15

• wetsparks

  This band sounds familiar, did they ever get any play time in America? Anyways, bands make most of their money from going on tour. CD sales get split to much with record companies and the store and then each member of the band for them to make to much money. A new band wouldn't be able to pull this off but if they start to use the record companies to make a name for themselves and then start to do stuff like this when their contract is up would be a good move.

  4.10.2007 20:15 #16

• emugamer

  Originally posted by wetsparks: This band sounds familiar, did they ever get any play time in America? Anyways, bands make most of their money from going on tour. CD sales get split to much with record companies and the store and then each member of the band for them to make to much money. A new band wouldn't be able to pull this off but if they start to use the record companies to make a name for themselves and then start to do stuff like this when their contract is up would be a good move.Yes, they have had air time in the U.S. Most people know them from their first hit "Creep" off their album "Pablo Honey" in the early 90's. They had a couple of pop hits off their next album "The Bends", most notably "High and Dry." "Paranoid Android" and "Karma Police" received the most air time from their next release "OK Computer." If you don't know who they are, then those songs would be the ones where you would say "Oh yeah, I guess I have heard of these guys after all." :-)

  5.10.2007 01:51 #17

• Mez

  I don't think this is a gimmic either. I bet they can still make their money by taking the high road. I bet the artists do not make 1% of the money that is collected. This way they get most of what little is collected and don't rip off their fans. I would hazzard they will actually make more money this way.

  5.10.2007 04:14 #18