To an inordinate degree of fuss, British rock group Radiohead self-released its seventh album, In Rainbows, on its website back in October, employing a pass-the-hat pay model whereby downloaders could pony up what they wished for the album, from as much as 100 pounds (about $200) to as little as virtual pocket lint.
The band has kept mum on the actual download figures, as well as their take, but a comScore study on In Rainbows' early success estimated that just 38% -- less than two in five downloaders -- bothered to put up anything at all. comScore's findings -- which Radiohead has disputed -- suggest the band gave out some 744,000 copies of the record for free, not to mention all those unrestricted downloads that bewilderingly saturated the file-sharing piracy sites, despite their free availability.
If the comScore numbers are to be believed, then discarding Radiohead's freeloading fans, an average of $6 was paid for downloading In Rainbows, for an overall average contribution of around $2.25, some 77% cheaper than an iTunes album download, and about 84% less than the disc's list price of $13.98.
However, using the royalties formula found at A&R firm TAXI's website, we find that Radiohead, given "superstar status," would clear in royalties only about $2.10 per compact disc, and closer to $2 for a $9.99 iTunes download (or 20 cents per 99 cent song)!
So according to comScore's figures, Radiohead actually comes out 15 cents ahead per download rather than a CD sale, and a quarter to the better over an iTunes album download.
Of course, In Rainbow will be released on CD in the next week or so, varying with locale. How deeply will In Rainbow's online release dent CD sales?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-22-2007 @ 7:53AM
Geo said...
It was a great idea..today's artists aren't worth $20 for a CD. most people only like a few songs anyway
12-21-2007 @ 8:15AM
mike said...
First off, what band makes money off of thier albums? Radiohead did a very generous thing by offering In Rainbows to the world at whatever price via the internet all the while selling a disc box version of the album and the standard CD version of the record in January. They would've been called whores if they imposed a high price on the download and then sold the album for $15/$20. Common people who listen to Disturbed or Nickelback won't understand the inventivness of Radiohead nor will they ever try to. We should crucify people like Steve Jobs who help create this modern tech addiction with ipods because it is people like him who destroyed record making and record buying.
12-22-2007 @ 12:24PM
Travis said...
Hah!
These statistics are completely false.
They are but a slice of the bigger picture, which means they do not accurately reflect the whole.
Nice try though!
Don't you know how comscore operates?
They have a certain amount of users that have given them permission to track and log their internet browsing usage. Therefore, these numbers only represent how comscore's "participants" chose to react to Radiohead's new album, In Rainbows. And they certainly do NOT represent the entirety of the digital community who participated in acquiring the album. No one has access to that data other than...
Radiohead! Of course.
And what have they said about comScore's numbers, repeatedly?
They are completely inaccurate.
Sorry Barry, but next article you should probably do better research before posting tabloid quality material! :)
12-22-2007 @ 7:57AM
Geo said...
LOL..oh please..Radiohead has to pay the bills at the end of the day- just like the rest of us..it's called MARKETING!!! Do you think they live in million dollar homes b/c they want their music or concerts to be nonprofitable...uhhh no..They weren't in it for the money..they would just play their music on a street corner and call it a day.
12-22-2007 @ 5:50PM
Ryan said...
You have it so wrong in so many ways. Bands are not selling CD's any more. Radiohead has learned this. Bands are in the business of getting their music out there so that they can market other income streams, such as $100 concert tickets and $50 tour t-shirts that cost $5 to make, Ringtones that sell for 4 bucks with 2 bucks going to the band.... buying music even at 99cents is a laughable excersize in stupidity in these times of free distritubion.
12-22-2007 @ 4:47PM
Richard Driver said...
Barry, nice insight on the Radiohead "fuss" and the info about the amount they earned from the "pass-the-hat" versus the pending "standard" release is interesting indeed.
We can only wonder what kind of deal Radiohead worked out with TBD Records and XL Recordings to release the album on CD. This kind of move really shows the consumers what the musicians (the "artists") think about the music industry and its bloated prices.
Good job, Richard
12-22-2007 @ 4:59PM
Peter said...
When Radiohead tours they often play to upwards of 50,000 in a given night. Those people pay anywhere from $40 - $100+ to see the band that night. Unlike record sales, the band takes a legitimate stake (although not majority) of those sales. By the end of the day, CD sales account for around 10% of their exorbitant income. The idea here was to generate interest, which would drive growth in other areas, including 2008 CD sales. Don't give consumers that much credit...not everyone knew about this album the week it came out but many more will read blog posts like this one and consider buying the CD when they see it in Barnes and Noble next month. If you look at the cost of serving up a digital album vs the amount of visibility this got the band, this was a very effective marketing program.
They're also great artists and a great band. I paid more for the digital download than I did for any other album this year.