The consensus seems to be that it's a risky move but a brilliant one nonetheless. Radiohead, the multiplatinum British rock band, bucks conventional "record" industry wisdom today by releasing its new album, In Rainbows, exclusively on the group's Web site.
But the really audacious part is that Radiohead, which is not under contract with a record company, is allowing fans to pay whatever they want for the music: 1 cent, $1, $10, whatever. Since the critically acclaimed quintet made the announcement a week ago, music circles have been buzzing about the unprecedented move. It could potentially change an already crippled recording industry, giving much more power to the artists and fans.
"Radiohead is demonstrating how the traditional music distribution model is outdated, costly and in many cases totally unnecessary," says Will Zweigart, editor of Butterteam.com, a Baltimore-based music blog. "This is the most stark wakeup call to date. In the future, consumers can expect their options for purchasing music to continue expanding."
The band's digital pricing plan is a break from the industry standard established by iTunes, the leading digital music retailer, which generally sells songs for 99 cents apiece while albums go for $10 to $12. With Radiohead's plan, fans will choose their own price for the digital version of the 10-track In Rainbows.
Also on radiohead.com, the band is selling an expansive physical version of the album - including two vinyl LPs and an expanded CD package with extra new songs and photographs - for 40 pounds, or about $82. That set is supposed to be delivered to fans by early December.
Radiohead promises to release In Rainbows as a conventional CD sometime next year, but in the meantime the pioneering band is asking fans to set a value - any value - on their music.
"The band has never embraced the music-industry norm," says AOL music editor M. Tye Comer. "They've worked within the system because they had to, but now they're out of their record deal and technology is at a point where they don't need a major label support to distribute their music."
With multiplatinum and critically lauded albums such as 1993's Pablo Honey and 1997's OK Computer under its belt, Radiohead has long established a solid fan base. For years, the band benefited from the mighty promotional and distribution muscle of a major label, namely EMI. So now with no contract, the group can make such a radical departure from the industry norm, something an up-and-coming act probably couldn't do on such a grand scale. Other marquee acts, such as Madonna and Jamiroquai, may be in a position to consider similar distribution approaches as their contracts with major labels run out.
