Hero or villain: will Radiohead's radical move improve or harm the music industry?

 

If you've been waste deep in a Cornish bog for the last two weeks, you probably haven't heard that British superband Radiohead are 'sticking it to the man' and releasing their new album for download on the web without help from a record label.

 

What's more, they're letting punters choose exactly how much to pay for it before they download it. You can choose to pay as little as one penny or as much as, well, anything.

 

Radiohead say they are using the web in this way to protest against record labels 'screwing over' bands by absorbing all the revenue from music sales without giving anything back to the artists.

 

People all over the world have been absolutely lapping it up. The international media is swollen with articles praising the band for its heroics and declaring Thom Yorke the saviour of music.

 

Radiohead: good move or bad?

 

But there is another argument that doesn't seem to have been given much attention. The argument that instead of scoring a win for the music industry, this could be the worst thing that could possibly happen.

 

Let me explain. Radiohead are capable of putting out this new record on their own because they have made so much money from mega-selling albums like The Bends and OK Computer. They've got enough cash to record and promote their album themselves. Plus, they're so famous and have so many fans that it's really not that hard for them to get people to download their music.

 

But what of all the start-up indie bands out there that have no such international footprint?

 

If record labels like EMI and Sony BMG are no longer going to be making all their cash from massive bands like Radiohead, Coldplay, Green Day etc, how else are they going to make money?

 

In Rainbows

 

I'll tell you how: by screwing over the smaller bands who can't afford to go it alone in the same way. Instead of setting bands free, Radiohead might actually be worsening the plight of struggling start-up acts by encouraging labels to shake them down with even more vigour and conviction.

 

Small bands need labels to fund the recording of their first albums. They need labels to help promote those albums. They need them to organise tours, get them on TV and to make music videos. That means these bands are tied to labels no matter what, there's no other way.

 

And therefore the big bands who no longer need labels, might not be helping the music industry as a whole by abandoning them, it might actually be causing untold harm.

 

Because not only will labels starting screwing over the little guys even more aggressively, but they'll also be even more keen to churn out those putrid and detestable manufactured money-machine pop acts. And that can only be a bad thing for music.

 

Radiohead are likely to make more money out of this new album, as a result of this move. For any big band the story would most likely be the same. And so maybe, just maybe, this web-release move is a lot less selfless than most people think it is.

 

http://www.tech.co.uk/rungsberry/general/blogs/2007/10/11/this-is-why-radiohead-could-be-killing-music

Killing music? Is that possible?

 

They're showing the record industry what's up is what they're doing.

I dont blame Radiohead in any way for doing this. They will make a good sum of money off of this album, if not more then usual. By not releasing the record through a record company, they do not have to give the company royalty fees and such. Also, i've heard that the average amount of money being given so far is around 9.99 USD. This is roughly the price of an iTunes album. In a way, people are actualy paying more then your average cd would cost in a situation where there are no third parties to go through. Nonetheless, these ideas would not work for smaller bands at all. People would be more inclined to pay nothing to see how a band measures up, unlike Radiohead, where people know what the quality of the music will be like. Small bands need labels, and i hope that these two solutions of selling music can co-exist, or the music industry might dip even further into depression.

Well, in fact Record Companies take the money from the sales of CD's anyway and a predetermined percentage of the CD sale goes to the Band. Normally between 50p and £1 per CD. (Unless you have a GREAT deal or go to an indie label where sometimes you can get more of a percentage of the physical sale but will probably sell less due to the lack of big money backing - but not always)

Royalty Fee's are paid due to public broadcasting of the bands music. (Radio, TV etc..) Radiohead will be Performing Right Society (PRS) members and that's how they receive that income.

 

Just pointing that out. ;)

I dont blame Radiohead in any way for doing this. They will make a good sum of money off of this album, if not more then usual. By not releasing the record through a record company, they do not have to give the company royalty fees and such. Also, i've heard that the average amount of money being given so far is around 9.99 USD. This is roughly the price of an iTunes album. In a way, people are actualy paying more then your average cd would cost in a situation where there are no third parties to go through. Nonetheless, these ideas would not work for smaller bands at all. People would be more inclined to pay nothing to see how a band measures up, unlike Radiohead, where people know what the quality of the music will be like. Small bands need labels, and i hope that these two solutions of selling music can co-exist, or the music industry might dip even further into depression.

pull that splinter out your arse! :P

This is hardly cutting-edge.

Marillion have been going it alone for years.

They manage to make a living and fund tours by cutting out the overheads.

Music was never alive therefore it can't be killed :smug:

 

I learnt that from a Biology book, you can only kill living things.

 

Radiohead's little plot awards the casual fan who will download the album on the cheap and punishes the hard-core fans.

Music was never alive therefore it can't be killed :smug:

 

I learnt that from a Biology book, you can only kill living things.

 

Radiohead's little plot awards the casual fan who will download the album on the cheap and punishes the hard-core fans.

 

I go on coldplaying to escape Biology! Thanks davvveeeeeee :P

I go on coldplaying to escape Biology! Thanks davvveeeeeee :P

 

Yeah - I bet you always find Dave in the kitchen at parties!!:P

Yeah - I bet you always find Dave in the kitchen at parties!!:P

 

I do parties?

I do parties?

 

You don't??:rolleyes:

Not really

 

Living out on the edge of a small farming village, you can't really drink as the only way home is driving (unless you fancy paying £20 for a taxi)

Not really

 

Living out on the edge of a small farming village, you can't really drink as the only way home is driving (unless you fancy paying £20 for a taxi)

 

Then maybe you should throw one instead!;)

House is too small to do anything of the sort

Myeah, a finnish band did that a year ago or something already. And i think it's a good idea..

 

Also, i've heard that the average amount of money being given so far is around 9.99 USD. This is roughly the price of an iTunes album. In a way, people are actualy paying more then your average cd would cost in a situation

 

That's pretty cool! If it's just true.. I'd be ready to pay a bit more for a good cd!. But of course there would be maany of those people who wouldn't pay a thing at all, myeah.

People seem to forget the existence of leaked albums. Every new album is usually being downloaded unofficially FOR FREE by about, tens of thousands (?... don't know how many actually) of people before normal people even know it's gonna be released.

 

Let's see it as just a leak, for which most people fay more than nothing.

 

And let's stop defending recording labels who've been screwing both artists and consumers for half a century.

Record labels take the money from big house-hold band sales and plough it into developing new talents.

 

Remove the money from the big named bands and you remove the money for new talents

They chearly chose to do it because they were intrigued to how it would result, and also they have te opportunity to get the album out to everyone at the same time and quickly. Also no doubt they are making more money from this venture.

 

It isnt killing music because this method doesnt suit everyone, and not everyone will turn to doing this.

^ That's it.

Radiohead's not killing music. If anything, it's only making music more accessible to people.

 

Music is not all about album sales, after all.