Steal This Comic XKCD

Why Radiohead weren’t revolutionary

A lot has been written about Radiohead’s ‘radical’ policy with ‘In Rainbows’ last year, letting the fans pay what they like. It seemed like a bold move at the time , if not original. Trent Reznor and others had done it first – but it was interesting because Radiohead were at the time such a big former major label industry mainstream band, as much as they like to pretend otherwise.

In fact, it turns out according to their record label’s Head of Business Affairs if the fans had paid too little they’d have pulled the plug well before that:

Instead Dyball points to the fact that the band and their management never announced a timeline for the pay-what-you-like experiment and were watching the average price daily with a view to potentially withdrawing it any moment should it drop too low. Dyball points out that the average price went down after the download moved from uberfans to less committed fans, as expected.

Maybe not so radical then? Really if you’re going to make bold artistic statements intending to be a radical shakeup of the music industry and put good faith of your fans to the fore, you don’t keep a hand on the ‘off’ switch. That suggests an insecure strategy, and could have backfired for Radiohead, instead they made more money than before…then signed back to another major label to release the album physically. And then pulled the free copies just before that was released.

One positive thing, like the examples of online books given away bumping sales of present and future hard copies, that the industry will take note and this will happen more often – embracing the ‘free’ and thinking long term about how people are exposed to music and trusting them more, rather than the siege mentality that has gone before.

Yet all this supports an arcane and overblown system that has resisted change by criminalising a victimless crime of downloading and going after 12 year old kids and people who didn’t even have a computer to download with! And with this new ISP law, I can see this getting quite ugly…

So remember: revolution this is not.

steal this comic - Radio Clash Podcast Why Radiohead weren't revolutionary Radio Clash Music Mashup Podcast brings you the best in eclectic tunes, mashups and remixes from around the world. Since 2004, we've been bringing you the freshest and most innovative music from a diverse range of genres and cultures. Join us on our musical journey as we explore the sounds of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Discover new music and be inspired by the mashup of musical styles that only Radio Clash can provide. Subscribe now to elevate your musical experience!

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